


Ten Wise Jedi

by WigletsMom



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Character Death, Eventual Smut, F/M, Minor Character Death, Murder, Murder Mystery, Reylo - Freeform, Unreliable Narrator, Virgin Rey (Star Wars), secrets and lies, whodunit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:16:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24722176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WigletsMom/pseuds/WigletsMom
Summary: An eccentric billionaire invites ten strangers to spend the weekend in his mansion on the remote island of Ahch-to. When the guests begin to die in bizarre ways, it becomes clear that one of them is a killer, and they may have more in common than they originally thought. Who is the killer? What is the motive? Who will survive the weekend?A Reylo Agatha Christie inspired murder mystery.Complete!
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 94
Kudos: 173





	1. And then there were nine

Chapter 1 

“And then there were nine.”

At precisely 6 o’clock in the morning on June the first, a group of ten strangers stood nervously at the docks in the port of Mos Eisley watching as a small white yacht prepared to dock at pier 7. Rey clutched the handles of her overnight bag so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. She glanced around taking stock of the others. She didn’t recognize any of them. There was a tall red haired man who looked vaguely familiar. She wondered if he was famous but she couldn't quite place him. Everyone looked worried. She supposed they had all received the same invitation.

Two weeks ago Rey had been baking a batch of cookies in her small apartment in Jakku when someone had slipped a red envelope under her door. By the time she had reached the front door and opened it, the messenger was gone. She bent down to pick up the envelope. It was very high quality paper, something she probably wouldn’t have wasted money on as a single female living on a pauper’s wages. She flipped over the envelope to be greeted by a wax seal. The seal was some ostentatious coat of arms design that she did not know. She broke the seal and pulled out a cream sheet of stationary with a handwritten note in elegant script which read as follows.

“I know your secret. Join me for the weekend of June 1st to discuss an arrangement that may prove to be mutually beneficial. If you do not attend, your secret will be exposed. More instructions will follow.”

Rey remembered the panic she felt upon reading the first letter. How was it possible? Everyone who knew the truth was dead! Had she made a mistake somewhere along the way? Impossible. It was impossible. She had been so careful. She turned the gas burner of her stove on and burned the letter.

The next day another red envelope appeared under her door. Inside was a black and white photograph of Rey standing on a busy street corner in downtown Chandrila. She had only been to Chandrila once. It was from  _ that day.  _

“Fuck!” Rey cried and immediately burned the photograph. So someone knew the truth. And now that someone intended to blackmail her. Well, she thought bitterly, the joke was on them. She had almost no money left to her name. If her blackmailer knew her secret then surely he knew the money was gone. What could he possibly want from her? A chill ran down her spine. She had sacrificed so much already. She would do almost anything to keep her secret hidden.

The next morning, a final red envelope appeared under her door. Inside another cream piece of stationary which read, “June 1, 6:00 AM, Pier 7, Mos Eisley. Do not be late.”

As instructed, Rey had been on time. Technically, she had been early, but she had not been the first to arrive at the pier. When she walked up clutching her overnight bag, a tall man with chin length dark hair had been standing on the dock. He was wearing a chic black suit. He looked comfortable in a suit, perhaps an office worker of some sort. She guessed his age to be about ten years or so older than her. She noted he had a small suitcase with him. He opened his suit jacket and pulled out a red envelope. He held it up and tilted his head slightly to the side. 

“Did you get one of these?” His voice was deep. If this had been under different circumstances, she would have said it was sexy. Hell, she would have said HE was sexy.

She bit her lower lip and silently nodded. 

“I thought so,” he muttered, tucking the envelope back inside his suit. “I’m Ben.”

“Rey,” she whispered.

They didn’t shake hands. They didn’t speak again. They stood staring at each other. She wondered what his secret was. No doubt he was wondering what hers was. He would never know. She would never tell.

A gentle breeze ruffled the skirt of her pink suit. She had spent an inordinate amount of time planning her outfit for the day. What does one wear to a blackmail boat ride adventure weekend? She had settled on a pale pink skirt and blazer with a yellow camisole underneath. She had opted for ballet flats, thinking that heels would not at all be suitable for a boat ride. 

Rey raised her eyebrows as a tall leggy brunette strolled over in a super short red cocktail dress. She was wearing what looked like 6 inch heels. She dragged a leopard print suitcase behind her. She was wearing those ridiculously large sunglasses where the lenses cover half your face. As Rey was pondering what sort of person wore a red cocktail dress at 6 o’clock in the morning, several more people drifted up to the pier.

In total there were ten. Five men and five women. None of them appeared to know each other. Nobody seemed interested in introductions or engaging in conversation. 

The yacht docked at pier 7 and a large burly man stepped down the ramp and onto the dock. Rey almost laughed out loud at his appearance. He looked like the stereotypical sea captain. He was a large gentleman with a tangled mass of curly hair and a large beard. He had crooked teeth and was smoking from a pipe. All he needed was an eye patch or a peg leg. Rey looked around the dock to see if someone was watching the group. Was this a joke?

“Ladies and gentlemen, please step aboard. I have been instructed to depart as soon as everyone was here.” 

  
Several people asked questions at the same time. 

“Where are we going?” asked a petite woman with a heart shaped face. She looked very young, possibly Rey’s age.

“Instructed by whom?” Asked Ben.

“What is going on?” asked the red haired man.

The captain held up his hands. “Look folks, I have a set of written instructions that I am supposed to follow. I have a letter to read to you after we have departed from Mos Eisley.”

The ten strangers looked at each other. Ben, still the only person whose name she knew, seemed to be the bravest. He grabbed his suitcase and walked up the ramp onto the yacht. Rey quickly followed behind him. The others slowly made their way up the ramp. A middle aged woman with chin length purple hair was the last holdout on the dock. 

“After you m’lady.” the Captain said as he grabbed her suitcase and gestured to the ramp.

“This is madness.” the woman muttered, but she ascended the ramp. 

The Captain directed the group to an interior cabin while two deck hands prepared to depart the harbor. There was a bartender in the cabin handing out mimosas or coffee. Rey opted for a cup of coffee. While mimosas were one of her favorite drinks, she wanted to have a clear head for whatever was to come this weekend. Most guests opted for booze, she didn’t blame them. Rey was the only coffee drinker. Ben did not have anything. 

The captain excused himself to steer the boat away from the docks and into the harbor. The group watched from the windows as Mos Eisley shrank in the distance and then disappeared. The group was on their second round of drinks when Ben cleared his throat and spoke.

“Uhh, I guess we should get acquainted since it seems we will be together for the weekend. My name is Ben. I’m from Coruscant. I work as a political advisor.” Ahh, Rey thought, that explains the suit.

The redhead spoke next. “I’m General Hux. I am also from Coruscant. I was in the military and have recently retired.” Rey suddenly remembered him from the news. He had been dishonorably discharged last year after some sort of scandal.  _ Retired _ was an interesting choice of words.

“My name is Poe. I’m a commercial airline pilot so I travel a lot. I don’t really have a home city anymore.” Rey thought he was handsome too. He locked eyes with Rey and raised an eyebrow in a flirtatious manner. Rey blushed and looked away.

“I’m Rose,” came a soft voice. “I’m an assistant professor at Chandrila U. I’m working on my PhD in engineering.” Rose looked over to General Hux and smiled. 

A gruff voice spoke up next, “My friends call me Chewie. Real name is Charles. I do a little bit of everything.” Very cryptic, Rey thought. This man was massive, but had a friendly look about his face.

“I am Bazine. I’m a model and I live in Coruscant.” That certainly explained the red cocktail dress and ridiculous shoes, Rey thought.

“My name is Zorii. I work in the pharmaceutical industry. I live in Chandrila.” She was very pretty, Rey thought. Rey noted that she was making eyes at the pilot. What was his name again? Poe?

“Amilyn. Artist. Yavin.” Not very talkative, Rey noted. This was the purple haired woman who had been the last to board the yacht.

“I’m Finn. I was also in the military. I’m living in Chandrila and going back to school to get my degree. I’m an orphan so I’m not really ‘from’ anywhere.” Rey perked up at his last line.

“I’m an orphan too,” she said, flashing a shy smile at Finn. “My name is Rey. I live in Jakku. I work at-” Rey broke off as the Captain came into the room holding a red envelope.

The group formed a small circle as the Captain produced a small lockbox from behind the bar. He removed a cream colored sheet of stationary and read, “Ladies and gentlemen you must now hand over your cell phones or other electronic devices. They will be returned to you at the end of the weekend.”

A chorus of voices began protesting. Rey bit her lower lip (a habit she had developed as a child). A whole weekend without her phone? No internet. No way to call for help. This day was getting worse and worse. 

Again, Ben was the first to comply. He pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket and placed it in the box. Following his lead, Rey sighed and placed her phone into the box. Nobody’s going to be calling me anyway. No family, no real friends. Nobody will miss me. The others slowly followed suit. Some grumbling about ‘needing’ their phones. The Captain closed the lid and engaged an electronic keypad to lock the devices away.

“We will reach our destination in about four hours. Please feel free to walk around the yacht, and of course please help yourselves to items from the bar. Your host is eager to greet you once we reach the island.”

Island? Rey’s curiosity was piqued. Rey couldn’t recall any islands near Mos Eisley, although to be fair, she was not much of a student of geography.

After the captain left, people began to wander around. She noticed that most people went off in pairs. Poe and Zorri, Amilyn and Chewie, Hux and Rose. Bazine was by herself on the deck sunbathing. Finn was also alone on the deck, vomiting over the side rail. Poor guy. She grabbed a water bottle from the bar and went out to see if he was OK.

“Hey. Finn, right? Here I figured you could use this.” Rey held out the bottle.

Finn shot her a grateful look as he grabbed the bottle out of her hands. He twisted off the cap and took a sip. “Thanks a million. It’s my first time on a boat. I guess I -” he broke off and leaned over the rail again, gagging.

  
Rey quietly backed away. She did a circuit of the deck, keeping to herself. Ben stood at the stern of the boat staring at the horizon. Wind was whipping through his hair. She briefly wondered if it was as soft as it looked.

“You didn’t get to say what you do.” Ben called over to her.

Rey gave him a puzzled glance.

“The Captain, he interrupted you before you finished introducing yourself.” He walked over to her. He was a whole head taller than her. She had to look up to meet his eyes.

“Oh.” Rey blushed. “Well, to be honest, I was probably going to lie.”

He studied her face with an amused expression. He reached out to tuck a rogue bit of hair behind her ear. “Somehow I don’t think you will be the only one telling lies this weekend.” He tucked his hands into his pants pockets and wandered away leaving Rey behind to wonder what he meant.

\---

Thirty minutes before they reached their destination, they could see a small island appear on the horizon. They all gathered on the deck to observe as they approached. It was a lush green island, they could see a large gothic looking mansion at the very top of the island. There were stone steps leading up from the dock that looked like they wrapped all the way around the island.

After the yacht docked, the Captain came out on deck and greeted them, “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the island of Ahch-to. Your host, Mr. Snoke, wishes you to follow the stone path up to the mansion. He is waiting for you inside. Please leave your luggage here. It will be carried up for you.”

The Captain went down the ramp first, and turned to offer a hand to everyone as they stepped onto the dock. Rey was the first off of the yacht after the Captain. She noticed a small metal plaque at the bottom of the stone stairs. She walked over to read it.

“The Way of the Jedi. Here on this island, almost 3000 years ago, the religious order of monks known as the Jedi made their home. Walking this path, also known as The Way of the Jedi, has been a symbolic gesture among religious followers for generations. The path winds around the mountain and ends at the Shrine of Light and Darkness at the summit.”

“I have to walk all the way up to the top of this mountain in these shoes?” Bazine wailed. She turned to yell at the Captain. The yacht had pulled away from the dock. The group of ten was now alone at the base of the stairs with no other option but to walk up.

“What about our luggage?” Finn wondered as they started climbing the stone stairs single file. The steps were broken and covered with moss. It was not an easy climb. The group kept having to help each other. They stopped several times for rest breaks.

“Isn’t Snoke the billionaire inventor who tried to put a colony on the moon? The one where everybody died when the oxygen systems failed?” Poe asked.

“Yes, I believe so. I didn’t know he lived on this island. I thought Ahch-to was a sacred space. I wonder how he came to live here.” Ben mused.

It took a long time, Rey’s not even sure how long, but finally the exhausted group reached a stone clearing at the top of the mountain. A statue of two monks engaged in some kind of sword fight was in the center of the clearing. There was another plaque at the base of the statue. Rey went over to read it aloud, “The Shrine of Light and Darkness. Here in this space a thousand years ago, an epic duel between the Jedi and Sith occurred. The outcome of this battle is unknown, as both orders disappeared shortly thereafter and none now live who know their fate.”

“So we made it all the way to the top, does that make us honorary Jedi?” Poe joked. He wiped sweat from his brow and gestured up the hill a little further. “Looks like the mansion is close and the rest of the path is flat.”

“My feet are killing me,” Bazine muttered.

“The rest of the path is grass, maybe you can go barefoot?” Rey suggested.

“I think I’ll make it.” Bazine took a step and her heel caught in a crack between two stones. She went down hard on her hands and knees with a pained cry.

Ben and Rey ran to her side. Ben grabbed her arm and helped her up to standing, “Sit here, let me see if it’s broken.” He helped Bazine hop over to a stone ledge that looked like a bench at the edge of the clearing. He removed her shoe and gently moved her foot from side to side, “Does this hurt?” He asked. She nodded. Ben stood up and raked his fingers through his hair. He glanced up to the mansion. “Well, it’s not that far. I think I can carry you.” 

  
As soon as he made the offer, the group watched in horror as the rock face of the cliff fell away. The stone bench fell off the side of the cliff, taking Bazine with it. Only her shoe was left behind in the grass. Ben leaned over the edge to look below.

“Oh my God!” Rose squealed. She buried her face into the chest of General Hux. Hux appeared all too happy to calm her. “Is she dead?”

Ben nodded. 

“Are you sure?” Finn asked.

Ben nodded again, “Quite sure. Let’s get up to the house. I’m sure our host has a telephone to contact the police.”

“And what exactly are we going to tell the police? Amilyn asked with a sarcastic tone. “We are a bunch of strangers who have been lured here by a blackmailer and now one of us is dead.”

“It was an accident.” Rey pointed out quietly.

“No police.” Amilyn insisted. Several others nodded agreement.

“Fine. Let’s go meet our host.” Ben stalked off in the direction of the house. Rey had to take two steps for every one of his. He reached the door first and knocked. He waited thirty seconds before pounding loudly on the door with his fist. When there was no answer he reached for the knob to discover the door was unlocked. He pushed the large front door open and called inside, “Hello?”

He stepped into the entryway and called again, “Hello!” He turned to the others and shrugged his shoulders. They all walked inside and stood in the entryway, looking around. Rey walked forward toward a small table with figurines on it. On the table were ten small statues, shaped like Jedi. One of the statues had been smashed and was broken. Also on the table was a poem in a frame. 

“What does it say?” Ben asked, stepping up behind her.

Rey glanced at it and then up at Ben with a confused face. “It’s a nursery rhyme.”

“Read it,” Amilyn suggested.

Rey read it aloud to the group:

“Ten wise Jedi went to pray at the shrine;

One fell down and then there were nine.

Nine wise Jedi standing at the gate;

One shocked himself and then there were eight.

Eight wise Jedi dreaming of heaven;

One never woke and then there were seven.

Seven wise Jedi stacking bricks;

One was crushed and then there were six.

Six wise Jedi going for a drive;

One crashed his car and then there were five.

Five wise Jedi playing at the shore;

One was swept away and then there were four.

Four wise Jedi trying to flee;

A ghost caught one and then there were three.

Three wise Jedi trying to make it through;

A lion ate one and then there were two.

Two wise Jedi reaching for a gun;

One was faster and then there was one.

One wise Jedi left all alone;

He became a Sith and then there were none.”

The group stood silently reflecting on the nursery rhyme, the broken statue, the dead model who had fallen. Coincidence, right? 

Rey read the first line over and over.

_ Ten wise Jedi went to pray at the shrine; _

_ One fell down and then there were nine. _


	2. And then there were eight

Chapter 2 - “And then there were eight.”

  
  


“How odd.” Amilyn murmured as Rey finished reading the nursery rhyme aloud.

The rest of the group remained silent. No doubt they were also considering the strange coincidence of Bazine’s death.

“Where is our host? Where is the fucking staff? This is ridiculous.” Hux complained.

As if on cue a butler in full evening suit, down to the spotless white gloves, emerged from a side room. He was a short old man with a curly mop of white hair. 

“Greetings Ladies and Gentlemen. I am Arthur Toodlesworth. You may call me Artoo. I welcome you to the home of Mister Snoke. If you would all please join me here in the salon, we can begin with our festivities for the weekend.”

“Festivities?” Zorii muttered, eyeing Poe. Poe shrugged and offered Zorii his arm. The group followed Artoo into the salon.

The salon consisted of several couches of plush pink velvet, an antique piano and a sideboard with a brandy decanter and glasses. The walls were covered in striped pink and red wallpaper. Rey wondered if they had stepped back in time.The room reminded her of something from the Wild West. Even the floorboards were a worn wood reminiscent of days long gone. Artoo wandered over to the sideboard and began pouring drinks. 

“Would anyone care for a brandy?” Several people raised their hands. Rey accepted a glass, despite her earlier intentions of remaining sober this weekend. Her anxiety had been slowly rising all day and at this rate, without a little alcohol, she would be in a full meltdown before dinner.

“When will our host be joining us?” Ben asked. He was also nursing a glass of brandy. 

“Mister Snoke will be joining us this evening for dinner. If you will all excuse me, I need to check with the cook. Lunch should be ready shortly.” Artoo bowed to the group and left the salon, shutting the door behind him. The group heard a small click as the door was locked behind him.

Finn rushed to the door, “It’s locked! What the hell?” He pounded on the door. “Artoo! Why have you locked the door? Let us out.” There was no answer. He pointed to the door at the other end of the room. “Is that one locked too?”   
  


Rose tried the handle and shook her head. “It’s locked.” 

“What about the window?” Amilyn cried out. 

Ben was standing closest to the window. He tried to open it but it wouldn’t budge. 

“Why would he lock us in?” Rey asked in a small voice. She did not want to be in the same room as these people if she didn’t have to be. She wanted to be alone to think. She needed a plan.

“Obviously they don’t want us wandering around. I wonder what’s hiding in this giant house?” Chewie wondered aloud. 

The group nervously sipped their brandies and made small talk. It was perhaps the most awkward social encounter that Rey had ever had the misfortune of being a part of. About fifteen agonizing minutes later, they heard footsteps in the hallway and the sound of the key turning in the lock. Artoo threw open the salon door.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, lunch is served in the dining room. Please follow me.” 

Nobody moved. Hux walked up to Artoo and poked him in the chest. “What was the point of locking us in?” he demanded.

“I have my instructions from Mister Snoke. The manor house is very large and some parts of the house are in poor repair. He does not want you to wander and become lost or injured.” 

Nobody was buying that excuse. Several of the guests exchanged looks with each other. Rey felt herself drifting toward Ben. For some reason she felt safest standing beside him. 

“Well, I am starving. Let’s go eat. Lead the way Artoo.” Poe said walking toward the door.

The group followed Artoo down the hallway to a large dining room. The rectangular table at the center of the room was an ornately carved work of art. There was a large fireplace at the head of one side of the table. There were place cards in front of each chair. As everyone wandered around looking for their spots, Rey discovered she was directly across from Ben at one end of the table. 

There was an empty chair at the head of the table near the fireplace. Finn read the card and addressed Artoo “This card is for our host. I thought he wasn’t joining us until dinner?”

“That’s correct.” Artoo went to the door at the end of the hall. Two women entered, with a serving cart with soup and salads. One of the women, the older of the two, was in a chef’s uniform. The younger woman was in a simple outfit of black skirt and a white button down shirt. They began putting meals in front of everyone while Artoo circled the table to pour drinks.

“No place setting for Bazine?” Rey muttered quietly. Ben was the only one who heard her. She saw him count the chairs. How did Artoo know that a place wasn’t needed for Bazine?

“There was another young woman with us who fell down the cliff.” Ben said to Artoo. Obviously Ben was much braver than her. Rey had been thinking about asking Artoo but fear had kept her silent.

“Yes, terrible tragedy. Her body has been recovered and is being transported back to the mainland.” Several people looked up from their plates. 

Rey wanted to ask how Artoo had known. She supposed an island with a house this large probably had security cameras everywhere. She wondered if they were being watched by their host right now on some security monitor. She glanced around the room casually but didn’t see any cameras.

The meal was mostly silent. Everyone seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement to forego small talk. Rey mostly kept her head down, staring at her food.  _ Just make it through the weekend _ , she kept telling herself.

After the dessert course was served, a deep voice addressed the room. “Welcome to Snoke Manor. As you may have guessed, I have invited you all to my home for a purpose.” Everyone began looking around the room to find the source of the voice. Rose pointed to a set of speakers on the fireplace mantle. The voice continued on, “You all have a secret in common. You are all killers.” Following this revelation there was a dramatic pause. “I have come up with an arrangement that will benefit us all. I look forward to meeting with you all this evening. Until then, please feel free to explore the house and gardens. Your rooms are ready should you wish to change into evening attire. Your luggage awaits you in your rooms.”

There was a horrible silence after the recording ended. Then suddenly everyone tried talking at once. There were several denials among the group. Rose began sobbing hysterically. An admission of guilt, Rey supposed.

“Well I, for one, admit it.” Poe said. The group looked at him in shock. “What’s the point in denying it?” He said, shrugging his shoulders. “If the truth is going to come out, I would rather have it be on my terms. When I first got my pilot license, I flew a small private jet with a friend while drunk. I crashed and he died. I got away with it because I switched seats. I managed to convince everyone that he had been flying.” 

Hux sighed and looked around the group, “I too am a killer. In war people often die, whether intentionally or not. It’s easy to get rid of an enemy and hide it amid the carnage of battle.” He didn’t elaborate any farther. 

“I deny it.” Amilyn said. There was a slight wobble in her voice that made Rey doubt it. 

Rey nervously clutched a cloth napkin in her lap. She could feel Ben’s eyes on her, but she dared not look up at him. _ I am not a killer. I am not. I am not. I am not. _ Her mantra was interrupted when Artoo entered the room with an empty cart and began clearing away the dishes. 

“Artoo. Where is our host? I demand you take me to him immediately.” Poe stormed around the table and grabbed the lapels of Artoo’s jacket.

  
“Easy, pal.” Finn said stepping up and prying Poe’s hands down. “Look, Mister Artoo, we are all under a great deal of stress. We would appreciate it if you could direct us to Mister Snoke.”

“I’m afraid he hasn’t arrived on the island yet. He is flying in from Coruscant later this afternoon.”

“What do you mean, he isn’t here yet?” Amilyn asked. There was a hysterical edge to her voice. “Are we alone on this island?”

“Yes. Aside from myself, the maid, the cook and the nine of you.” Artoo said. “Perhaps you would all like to retire to your rooms and freshen up? Your luggage has been delivered to your rooms.”

“How?” Rey asked. “The yacht left with our luggage.”

“The captain delivered the luggage to the dock on the other side of the island. The path on the southern end of the island is much too steep for luggage delivery. The northern end is just steps from the front lawn.”

“There was another path to the house? Why did we have to come the steep way?” Chewie demanded.

Artoo did not answer him. He produced a silver tray from a side table with small envelopes on it. He circled the table and each guest selected the envelope with their name on it. Inside Rey’s envelope was a small brass key with the number 10 on it. 

The group followed Artoo up the grand staircase in the front lobby to the second floor. The rooms were in one long corridor. As they walked down the hall, Rey noticed that she and Ben were the last to reach their rooms. He was in room number nine. Before they went in their rooms he turned to her.

“So, are you a killer?” He asked.

“I’m not answering that.” Rey said. Rey turned and unlocked her door, stepping inside the room.

“So you deny it?” He called after her.   
  


“Of course I deny it.” She snapped, slamming her door behind her. She leaned against the door and took several deep calming breaths.

_ I am not a killer. I am not. I am not. I am not. _

Rey stood in her room, just inside the door for a while. She’s not sure really how long it was. The room was small but comfortable. There was a large canopy bed in the middle with a mountain of frilly pillows on top. There was a small bathroom attached, complete with a fancy stone tiled shower. She was probably going to need a relaxing shower after dinner tonight. She spied her overnight bag sitting at the foot of the bed. Thinking it too early to dress for dinner, Rey began unpacking. She placed her cosmetics on the counter in the bathroom and hung up her dinner dress in the small wardrobe. 

She flopped down on the bed and closed her eyes. She did not intend to fall asleep, but perhaps the constant state of fear and anxiety caused her to drift into a fitful slumber. 

\---

A woman’s scream jolted her awake. Rey sat up in bed with a gasp. For a moment she thought she was back in her apartment in Jakku. She looked around and realized that the nightmare was still ongoing. Another scream had Rey jumping out of bed. She realized the screams sounded like they were coming from outside the house. She ran to the window and looked out. Her room overlooked the front lawn. She saw the woman Zorri kneeling over a man’s body near the front garden fence. She grabbed the key to her room and ran into the hallway, nearly colliding with Finn, who was coming out of room eight.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

“Something happened outside.” Rey grabbed Finn’s arm and they ran down the stairs and out the front door together. 

By the time they made it to the lawn, several others had gathered around. Ben was now kneeling over the body of Poe checking for a pulse. He looked up at the group and shook his head. There was a strange smell of burned flesh in the air. Rey almost gagged. She chewed on her bottom lip to force herself not to vomit.

“Don’t touch the gate!” Zorii yelled. “It’s an electrified fence. He grabbed it and now he’s dead!” She was hysterical. “He knocked on my door and said he saw someone running in the garden. He said it wasn’t one of us and maybe it was Snoke. We came out to investigate. When he tried to climb the fence he was electrocuted.” She wailed. 

“Let’s get him inside. Someone find Artoo. There has to be a way to get to a phone. We need to get off this island.” Ben scooped up Poe’s body and began walking back to the house. Amilyn linked arms with Zorii and led her back to the house. Rey was the last to follow behind. 

As she walked through the front door, she noticed the Jedi figurines in the front hallway. Another figurine had been smashed. She walked over to the poem and read,

_ Nine wise Jedi standing at the gate; _

_ One shocked himself and then there were eight. _


	3. And then there were seven

Chapter 3 “And then there were seven”

“There are no phones, sir. And even if you had a cellphone, there is no reception all the way out here on Ahch-to. I’m very sorry. We can put his body in his room. Perhaps Snoke’s jet can take him back to the mainland after Mr. Snoke arrives?” Artoo was full of apologies and no good solutions. 

  
Ben’s face looked scary, Rey thought. She hoped he wasn’t a homicidal maniac. If he wasn’t currently holding Poe’s body in his arms, she would be worried that Artoo was about to be throttled. 

“What time is Mr. Snoke’s jet expected?” Rey asked.

“He’s due to land around 7. Dinner was set to be served at 8 o’clock.”

“Well what time is it now?” Rey had lost all track of time since handing over her phone earlier. She never wore a watch. Was that a thing that people still did?

“Just after five m’am. I have tea ready in the salon for anyone who is interested.” Artoo steered the group into the salon. Amilyn led Zorii upstairs, she was still crying hysterically. Artoo ran back out to help Ben upstairs to deposit Poe’s body in his room. The maid was in the salon serving the tea.

Rey accepted a pretty blue patterned china cup and saucer. Since Artoo has been less than helpful, she decided to see if the maid could be of assistance. 

“Excuse me Miss, but is there a phone that we could use?” 

The maid looked at Rey with a puzzled expression.

Rey repeated herself again, “Is there a phone we could use? Or, perhaps a radio?”

The maid shook her head. A pleasant smile was plastered on her face.

“Sorry,” Artoo interrupted. He seemed slightly breathless, as if he had run down the stairs, “The maid does not speak basic. She only speaks a rare dialect from Mr. Snoke’s home village.” 

“How convenient.” Rey muttered under her breath.

Ben wandered in a few steps behind Artoo. He looked slightly less angry, Rey supposed. She was dying to know what his story was. Maybe ‘dying’ was not the right word to use.

“I thought you said we were the only people on this island?” Hux questioned Artoo. He was gripping his teacup with excessive force. Rey was worried he would snap the delicate handle off the cup. “Poe told Zorii that he saw a man running outside along the fence.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Sir. If he thought he saw an unknown man, he was mistaken. The only people on this island are myself, the cook, the maid and the nine - I mean,  _ eight _ , of you.”

“I don’t think any of us believe you, Artoo. And I also find it hard to believe that you have no phone, no radio and no way to contact your master. How exactly does this employment relationship work if you can’t speak to him?” Hux was getting worked up. His pasty pale face was turning pink. The maid had grabbed his teacup under the pretense of refilling it, but she didn’t hand it back to him. Probably a wise choice. 

“Well, obviously I have contact with Mr. Snoke on a daily basis when we are at his primary residence in Coruscant. This is a weekend home that we rarely stay at. Usually Mr. Snoke is with us when we arrive, so there is no need for a phone or internet. If everyone could please relax, we will take care of everything when Mr. Snoke arrives.” Little rivers of sweat were beginning to run down poor Artoo’s face. He clearly wasn’t used to having anyone challenge his authority, Rey thought.

“If he arrives, you mean.” Rose said, pointing out the window. She was looking out at a dark line of clouds that had appeared on the horizon. 

A large crack of thunder caused several of the guests to jump. Finn spilled tea all over his lap. Cursing, he grabbed a wad of napkins and began blotting his pants.

“I have one of those stain remover pens up in my room.” Rey volunteered.

“Yeah? That would be awesome.” Finn said.

“Great, let’s go.” Rey led the way out of the salon. She caught sight of Ben on the way out the door. He had a large scowl on his face. He made eye contact with her then looked away quickly. Was that directed at her? No, probably not, she assured herself. They were all under a lot of stress waiting for their blackmailer to arrive. 

They were silent until they reached Rey’s room.

“So what do you think this Snoke guy has planned?” Finn asked.

Rey began digging through her purse for the stain remover. “Um. I don’t really know what to expect. I’m trying not to think about it too much. This whole weekend is like one giant nightmare.” She pulled out the stain remover and handed it to Finn.

“Tell me about it. Do you think it’s true, what he said... that we are all killers?” Finn twisted the stain remover pen nervously in his hands.

“No. Are you a killer?” She asked him. 

“No, of course not. Are you?” 

“Definitely not.” 

“Good.” He said. 

“Great.” Rey had a feeling that neither of them believed each other. 

“Well, I’m going to go change before dinner. I don’t think this stick is going to save my pants. Thanks anyway.” He handed the stain remover back to her.

“Ok. See you at dinner.” Rey closed the door behind Finn.

_ I am not a killer. I am not. I am not. I am not. _

\---

The dark line of clouds turned into an epic thunderstorm that went well past eight o’clock. The thunder and lightning were so intense that Rey was afraid to stand too close to the window. When seven o’clock came and went without any sight of their host's jet, the group began to become increasingly restless. It was clear that the weather was going to delay their host for an extended period.

Rey had changed into a sequined cocktail dress that she had rented for the weekend. It was black on top and blue on the bottom and had an ombre effect to it. It was the fanciest dress she had ever worn. She hated the fact that her life was so small that she never got to dress up. It was her own fault of course. She couldn’t have people in her life anymore.

She stepped out of her room just before eight o’clock and walked down the main staircase. Artoo was waiting at the foot of the stairs. 

“Everyone is gathered in the library until dinner is ready.” He pointed to a door off the main hallway that she hadn’t noticed before. 

As she stepped inside she did a double take. The ‘library’ only had two large bookshelves covering one wall. The rest of the walls were covered in dead animals. Obviously Mr. Snoke was a big game hunter in his down time. There was a lion, tiger, a full sized bear in one corner and various stuffed birds hanging from the ceiling. She drifted to the large fireplace, nodding to Finn as she entered the room. Gross, even the carpet in front of the fireplace was some sort of dead animal. She tried to avoid stepping on it. 

Rey noticed that everyone had formed little groups. Rose and Hux were sitting together. Amilyn was with Chewie and Zorii and Finn were chatting near the fireplace. Where was Ben?

“Creepy, right?” Finn asked, stepping over to her.

“Very creepy.” Rey said with an uncomfortable laugh. She looked up at the giant lion head that was mounted over the fireplace. It’s mouth was open to display it’s teeth. It’s face was frozen in an eternal roar. She shivered, despite the heat from the fireplace. “I feel like they are staring at us.”

“Well they aren’t, but someone is.” Finn subtly gestured to the far corner of the library. Ben was sitting in a rather uncomfortable looking leather armchair. His back was ramrod straight. He had that scowl on his face again. “He keeps staring at you. I think he likes you.”

“I’m sure it’s quite the opposite.” Rey said. She excused herself from Finn’s company and walked over to Ben.

“Are you going to sit by yourself over here and be antisocial?” Rey tried to keep her tone light. It had been a very long time since she had flirted with someone. It had been a very long time since she even wanted to.

“I prefer to watch.” He said quietly.

“I bet you do.” She said. He raised an eyebrow. It was official, she was terrible at flirting. Any second now he was going to get bored and walk away from her. 

“After dinner would you like to-” Ben was interrupted by the arrival of Artoo who was announcing dinner. Ben stood up and offered his arm to Rey. He led her out of the library, steering her around the animal rug so that she wouldn’t have to step on it. 

“What were you going to say?” Rey asked. Her heart was racing. What was he going to say!?!?

“I’ll tell you later.” Ben said as they reached the dining room.

As before, there were place cards arranged around the table. Rey once again found herself seated directly across from Ben. 

The soup and salad course was mainly consumed in silence. By the time the steak had arrived, Hux decided to stir the conversational pot. “So everyone knows about me. Do none of you feel the need to admit the truth?”

There was a silence as the guests looked around at each other.

“Eh, what the hell.” Chewie took a large swig from his wine glass. “I once killed a man in a bar fight. Hit him in the head with a liquor bottle. Didn’t think he’d die.” After another pause, “It was self defense!”

“When I was a teenager, a boy I was babysitting died because I wasn’t paying attention.” Rose said quietly. Her gaze did not lift from her plate. She was so quiet that Rey had to strain to hear her.

“Remember I said I work in pharmaceuticals?” Zorii said, “Well my company performs drug trials. My job is to coordinate the volunteers. Last year several volunteers died because the drug wasn’t really ready for a clinical trial. It was rushed into production. We knew it wasn’t ready and that it was dangerous. I didn’t tell this to the volunteers, of course, and several of them died.”

“I killed my father.” Ben said. No further elaboration. Rey looked up at Ben with a shocked expression on her face. Her mouth was rounded into a little “O.” What kind of monster kills their own father?

“Well, I am innocent.” Finn said. 

“As am I.” Rey said firmly.

“So am I.” Amilyn said.

“Oh, come on. You can’t all be innocent or you wouldn’t be here. I’m sure even the model Bazine had killed someone. You don’t get to the top of the modeling world without crushing a few people under you. And we know Poe was a killer as well.” 

“Well, I honestly can’t be blamed for what happened.” Amilyn spat out. “My assistant took her own life after I fired her. The wretched girl was stealing my artwork and selling it behind my back. I can’t be held accountable if her guilt caused her to make a poor decision. It’s not my fault! I refused to be labeled as a killer.” 

Finn sighed heavily. “During the War, my commander ordered us to fire on a group of unarmed civilians. I couldn’t do it. I shot her instead. It was recorded as an accidental friendly fire incident.”

The group turned their faces to Rey, waiting for her big reveal. She felt her panic level rising. 

“I am not a killer. I am not a monster like the rest of you!” she screamed, jumping up from the table so forcefully that her dining chair fell over behind her. Rey ran from the room, up the grand staircase and to the safety of her room. She locked the door behind her and flopped into the bed, sobbing.

_ I am not a killer. I am not. I am not. I am not. _

\---

The next morning, as Rey was styling her hair for the day, she was interrupted by a soft knocking at the door. Ben was standing there, impeccably dressed. He was wearing another black suit, but today his shirt and tie were also black. Rey had decided not to be as formal today. She had chosen a cream colored skirt that hugged her hips and fell just below her knees and a soft pink sweater. 

“Oh, Good. You’re alive.” He said quietly. Was she seeing things or did the corner of his mouth turn up a little into a smile?

“Did you think I wouldn’t be?” Rey asked. She raised her hairbrush and ran it through her hair one final time before tossing it toward her bed. 

“I don’t know what to think anymore. The artist with the purple hair-”

“Amilyn.” Rey supplied. She turned into her room and gestured for Ben to enter. He wandered in and lurked close to the door.

“Right, Amilyn. She killed herself last night.” 

“What? How?” Rey thought back to the prior evening. Amilyn had been upset, but no more so than any of the others. She had not accepted responsibility in her assistant’s suicide but perhaps the guilt had been too much to bear.

“Pills. Chewie went to check on her this morning. They were supposed to meet for coffee at seven and Amilyn never showed. Her door was unlocked. He found her laying in bed and several empty pill bottles were on the nightstand.”

“One never woke.” Rey whispered.

“What?” Ben asked.

“It’s like that stupid nursery rhyme downstairs. Come on.” She grabbed his hand and dragged him down the hallway and down the stairs into the lobby. She pointed at the table on the entryway. A third jedi figurine had been smashed. “Look.” She pointed to the phrase in the nursery rhyme.

_ Eight wise Jedi dreaming of heaven; _

_ One never woke and then there were seven. _


	4. And then there were six

Chapter 4 - “And then there were six”

“This is . . . really weird.” Ben said, putting the nursery rhyme back on the table. He picked up one of the jedi figures to examine it. “You said someone has broken one of these each time someone has died?” He set the figurine gently back on the table.

“Yes. Remember when we first arrived? One was already broken. There were only three people here then - Artoo, the cook and the maid. It had to have been one of them.”

Ben grabbed her hand and led her into the salon where everyone was enjoying a cup of coffee and pastries from a dining cart that had been set near the door. 

“Listen everyone. Rey has a theory about what is going on.” Ben gestured to Rey to explain herself. She told them about how she noticed the similarities between the nursery rhyme, the figurines and the three deaths. 

“Surely it’s just a strange coincidence.” Rose said.

“Unless it’s not.” Rey insisted.

“What are you saying?” Hux asked.

“I’m saying that maybe these weren’t two accidents and a suicide. What if they are murders? What if we have been lured here, not to be blackmailed but to be killed?” Rey’s voice had turned squeaky, bordering on hysterical.

The group exchanged skeptical glances. 

“Well there’s one way to settle this, let’s ask Artoo.” Ben said, “Where is he? Has anyone seen him this morning?” 

“No, and the kitchen was empty too. A full breakfast wasn’t prepared, just this coffee cart. The coffee is still hot, so it was put here recently.” Rose said.

“I haven’t seen the maid either.” Finn said with a sigh.

“Listen, we need to spread out and look for the staff. They can’t have disappeared. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Ben said, “Rey and I will look in the servant bedrooms. Hux and Rose, why don’t you search the other rooms on this level? Chewie, Finn and Zorii, how about looking around the gardens and outside the house?” The group followed Ben’s lead without question and broke off into the groupings he suggested. Ben grabbed Rey’s hand and led her out of the salon.

“Where are the servants quarters?” Rey asked. 

“I think they are back this way, behind the kitchen.” Ben led them down a dark hallway with several doors. They tried the first door they came to which was unlocked. Ben softly knocked and when there was no answer he pushed open the door and looked inside. The room was in total chaos. Dresser drawers were open, the bed sheets were a mess. The closet was empty with hangers scattered all over the bottom and the floor. It looked as if someone had packed and left in a hurry.

“This is very odd.” Rey said nervously. “Let’s look in the next room.” They moved to the second door in the hallway, which was also empty of its contents, although less messy. “Something is very wrong here.” 

The third room was also empty. Ben bent down to pick up something from the floor. He held up a white curly mop of hair. 

“It’s a wig.” He said holding it up for Rey’s inspection. His brown was wrinkled in confusion.

“A wig? Artoo was wearing a wig?” Rey reached out to touch it. “Wait, Ben! Poe saw a man running in the garden. What if it was Artoo without his wig?”

“I don’t know. It’s possible, I guess. It’s also possible that Poe didn’t see anybody, or that he saw one of us.” Ben threw the wig on the bed.

“Let’s go see if the other’s found anything.” Rey turned to leave but Ben grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around.

“Wait. I wanted to talk to you about last night.”

Rey’s eyes widened into saucers and her pulse increased. He backed her into the door and had a light grip on her upper arms. He was bent over slightly, leaning in to her.  _ Is he going to kiss me?  _ She wasn’t sure which was more terrifying, him wanting to kiss her or him not wanting to kiss her.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“You were upset. You ran out of the dining room. I just - I want you to know that you can trust me. If you want to tell me what happened, I won’t judge you. I’m not a monster, despite what you may think.” He was practically whispering. His warm brown eyes were searching hers. 

She opened her mouth but no sound came out. Her brain was too busy focusing on the fact that his thumbs were gently caressing her biceps.

“I … uh,” Rey looked up at Ben. She was sure that her lack of experience with relationships was showing now. Surely every other woman Ben had ever been with had thought of something more clever to say than “uh.” Blushing, she lowered her gaze. She didn’t want to see the inevitable disappointment in his eyes.

“I feel something between us. I know you do too. Don’t be afraid of it.” His right hand tipped her chin up as he leaned in further to kiss her. The kiss started out very tame, soft and hesitant. Perhaps a little too chaste for even Rey. Craving more, she pushed herself forward, off the door and into Ben’s arms. Needing no further encouragement, he turned and steered her to the bed, pushing her back onto the mattress and hiking her skirt up. He leaned over top of her, fingers skimming up her inner thigh. 

The alarm bells in her head that told her things were moving too fast. She didn’t know this man and he was an admitted killer. But ... he was gorgeous and he wanted her and the only orgasm she ever had in her life was one she gave to herself. Rey silenced the voice in her head. If she was going to be murdered this weekend then what was the harm in a little tryst with a stranger?

“I thought you only liked to watch.” Rey teased.

“The only thing I want to watch is your face as you come on my fingers.” Ben growled out.

Rey gasped as Ben pulled her panties off with a quick yank, throwing them haphazardly on the floor.

As his fingers began circling her clit, Rey arched her pelvis up off the mattress. 

“Oh God.” She moaned, turning her head to the side.

“No,” he rasped, “I want to see the look in your eyes.” She turned her head and looked up at him. His eyes were wide, darkened with lust.

He slowly inserted a finger into her, curling it gently on her front wall. She made an embarrassing squeaking noise as he discovered a spot that she herself had never been able to find. She silently cursed her small fingers and thought about the vibrator she bought and was too scared to use.

He chuckled, “Like that, do you?” He inserted a second finger and began pumping them in and out. “You’re so fucking _ tight _ .”

She dug her fists into the sheets as the pressure inside her built up. “Ben, I’m going to come!” Rey said in a breathless voice. Ben increased his pace. A ripple of electricity ran through her body, from her core all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes. She shuddered with the aftershock of the first real orgasm of her life. 

Ben leaned down over Rey, “Such a good girl.” He murmured into her hair. He planted a trail of kisses along her jawline before plundering her mouth. “I can’t wait. I have to have you.”

“Ben,” Rey was interrupted by a kiss, “I need-” another interruption. 

“I know what you need.” Ben said, sliding a hand under her sweater toward the valley of her breasts.

“I need to tell you something.” Rey panted out.

“Oh?” Ben asked, as his fingers found their way under her bra to lightly pinch a nipple.

“Mmm! Ben, I -” Ben silenced her once again with a kiss.

Ben pushed himself up and was reaching for his belt buckle when the sound of the door opening caused him to jump off of Rey. She yelped and stood up quickly, tugging down her skirt. Ben’s hand was in his pocket. She was sure he was trying to disguise his erection.

“Oh, if you two wanted to be alone together, why didn’t you just say so?” Hux laughed. 

Rose stared at the pair with eyebrows raised. Rey self consciously reached up to smooth her hair and straighten her blouse. She was sure she looked thoroughly debauched. She wondered if her face was as pink as her sweater.

“Did you two find anything?” Ben asked, ignoring Hux’s remark.

“Nothing at all. The refrigerator is stocked, as is the bar. Enough provisions for several more days. The refrigerator is a large walk in, in case you want to move the corpses in there. No sign of the cook, maid or Artoo. We didn’t find any phones or radios either.” Hux reported.

“Did you find anything?” Rose asked Rey. 

Rey grabbed the wig off the bed, “Just this wig. It’s Artoo’s.” 

“Well, it’s not a crime to be bald. Although it should be.” Hux muttered. “So what’s the big deal if he left it behind?” 

“The other two rooms were empty of all their contents, and judging by the state of them, they were emptied in a hurry.” Rey added.

  
“That is distressing. But we know that there is no way off this island other than boat or plane, right? So if the three of them left, where did they go and how did they get there?” Hux mused.

“Why don’t we see if the others found anything?” Ben suggested. 

“Are you sure you two wouldn’t rather finish fu-” Hux broke off when Ben took a menacing step toward him, “Ok then. Let’s go find the others.”

Hux and Rose turned into the hallway. Rey looked around hurriedly for her discarded panties. 

“Looking for these?” Ben asked, holding up her plain white cotton underwear. She was too angry to be embarrassed. They weren’t granny panties, but they were about as exciting as vanilla ice cream. 

“Give me those!” She hissed.

“Maybe you can have them back later. I’ll think about it.” He said with a shrug, as he tucked them into his pants pocket. He walked into the hallway, leaving a very flustered Rey behind. 

The group made their way to the front entrance. Rey was the last out the door. She turned to glance at the figurines in the entryway. A fourth figure had been smashed. She stood in shock for a second before running after Ben, Hux and Rose. 

“Wait! Another figurine is broken!” She yelled, as she ran to catch up with them.

As they turned to look at Rey, a blood curdling scream echoed across the island. 

“That’s Zorii. They sounded far away, which way do you think they went?” Rose asked. There were several paths leading away from the house. The steep path that they had originally come was visible. Another wooded path led off in the opposite direction. A third path led into the gardens.

“Help! Help us!” A male voice shouted through the woods.

“That was Finn! He’s this way, come on!” Rey shouted. The group sprinted up the wooded path. As the path curved through the woods, they came upon a beach and a pier. There was a small brick boathouse next to the dock that was now partially collapsed. Finn and Zorii were furiously trying to move the bricks to rescue Chewie.

Rey stood helpless on the dock. In the distance she could see a small white yacht drifting toward the horizon.

“Wait, come back!” She screamed, jumping and waving her arms. “There’s a boat! Come back! Help us!”

“Don’t bother. We already tried. I think it was Artoo and the staff. They’ve left us here.” Zorii had given up on removing bricks from the pile when Hux and Ben had taken her place. “Chewie went into the boathouse to see if there was a radio or phone and the walls just collapsed. I’m sure he’s gone-” Her voice broke off with a sob. 

Rey and Rose wrapped Zorii in a hug. The three women watched as the men removed the bricks. It took almost an hour before Chewie’s dead body was uncovered. Ben slung Chewie’s body over his shoulder and started back toward the house, a grim expression on his face.

Rey had originally thought Artoo was behind the killings, but he had just drifted off into the distance. She thought of the figurine that had been smashed. She was with Ben when it happened. Zorii and Finn were with Chewie. That left either Hux or Rose to smash it. Rose seemed far too fragile to be a cold blooded killer. Her prime suspect at the moment was Hux. She just needed to figure out how he was killing people, and catch him in the act before he killed anyone else. 

She needed to get Ben alone again, to discuss her theory of course, no other reason. Rey blushed as she remembered how, just about an hour ago, she was in the arms of Ben. Ben whose last name she didn’t even know. Ben who had her panties tucked in his pants pocket. Ben who is a killer. Ben whose luscious lips and dark wavy hair - NO. She needed to focus. Now was not the time to be thinking about him. 

She wondered how far she would have let Ben get if Hux and Rose hadn’t interrupted. She chastised herself for being so distracted when people around them were dying. She needed to focus. 

Another man was dead, just like the nursery rhyme. She needed to study the rest of the rhyme and figure out how the next victim would die. Maybe she could stop it next time.

_ Seven wise Jedi stacking bricks; _

_ One was crushed and then there were six. _


	5. And then there were five

Chapter 5 “And then there were five.”

The three ladies prepared brunch while the men took all the bodies and put them into the walk-in refrigerator. They had no idea how much longer they would be on the island and Poe had already been dead for almost a full day.

The ladies were chopping vegetables for a salad in silence until Rose interrupted it.

“So you and Ben, huh?” Rose said in a gossipy manner.

“No.” Rey said quietly. She focused intently on her tomato, as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Zorii stopped chopping her carrot and looked up. “Wait, what’s going on?”

“Nothing.” Rey said quickly. _ Focus on the tomato. If I don’t look at them, maybe they will stop talking about me _ .

“Hux and I walked in on Ben and Rey-”

“Doing nothing at all!” Rey interrupted, looking up at the two women. She shot Rose a murderous glance.

“Oh it was definitely  _ something _ .” Rose said, turning to Zorii with a wink.

“Good for you girl. He’s gorgeous. I would like to do bad things to him too.” Zorii said with a laugh. She resumed chopping her carrot.

“Well, I’m not that kind of girl.” Rey said. She began furiously dicing the tomatoes. 

“What kind of girl? Rose asked.

“The kind of girl who sleeps with someone whose last name she doesn’t know.” Rey said. 

“ _ I’m _ that kind of girl.” Zorii said mischievously. 

Rose laughed, “Me too. I keep trying to catch Hux’s attention but he seems a little preoccupied. Maybe he’s not into me. Who knows.” 

_ Or maybe he’s too busy planning and committing murders _ . Rey almost voiced her suspicion aloud, but she wanted to run it by Ben first. She had studied the nursery rhyme again when they got back to the manor. If they were keeping with the poem, the next person was set to die in a car crash. As far as she knew, there weren’t any cars or roads on the island so she wasn’t sure what was going to happen. She had no idea how to prevent a murder that she didn’t even know the details for. Maybe she would get lucky.

\---

After eating, the group had decided to finish searching the island. This time, instead of splitting up, they all stuck together. They followed a path that they hadn’t noticed earlier. The path emerged in a small clover field. At the edge of the field was a large metal structure. Rey thought it looked like a garage of some type. They began walking toward the metal structure. Rey and Ben were at the back of the group.

Ben deliberately slowed his gait to match Rey’s. “Should we talk about what happened?” he asked quietly.

“No. I’m fine. We don’t need to talk about it. Just give me back my panties.” She whispered. She didn’t really need them back. She had put on a new pair before brunch. She just didn’t want him to have them anymore.

“I’m still considering it.” He said with a laugh. He stopped suddenly and bent down to pick something out of the grass.

“What is it?” Rey asked. Ben stood up and grabbed her hand, placing something in her palm. It was a four leaf clover. 

“My mother used to say there is one in every patch.” He smiled at her and continued walking. Rey had to scurry to keep up.

The group stood outside the large metal structure looking around. 

“It looks like an airplane hangar.” Ben said.

“I think you're right. That looks like a small runway back there.” Finn pointed to a field behind the structure with a small landing strip. “Do you think any planes are inside?”

“Or maybe a radio?” Hux suggested.

Rey felt a glimmer of hope as they made their way into the hangar’s entrance. As soon as they were inside, her spirits sank. There was a row of fancy cars and one small airplane parked inside. Great, a whole line of cars. She just had to make sure nobody tried to drive one.

“Well that airplane isn’t going to be of much help. It only fits two people.” Hux said.

“And nobody here is a pilot, right?” Finn asked.

“Actually, I have a pilot’s license. My Dad taught me to fly.” Ben said quietly.

“You mean the Dad that you killed?” Hux asked sarcastically.

“Hux!” Rose elbowed him in the ribs. “That was not necessary.”

Rey peeked inside the airplane. There was no way they could fit more than two people inside. “What if Ben flys it to the mainland and brings help back?”

“You mean like the police? That’s a hard no. What’s to stop him from leaving and not sending any help at all?” Hux argued.

“I don’t think he would just abandon us all here.” Rey said.

“Oh you think just because you let him fuck you that he wouldn’t leave you here?”

Rey gasped and her eyes filled with tears.

“Hux, that’s enough!” Ben growled. “I’m not going to attempt to fly that plane anywhere. It looks like it hasn’t flown in years and I don’t want to crash into the ocean and die.”

Finn pulled Rey aside, “Tell me you didn’t sleep with that monster.”

“We didn’t. And he’s not a monster.” Rey looked away.

“Come on Rey, I don’t think you should trust him. Something about him seems  _ off _ .”

“Well I feel comfortable with him.” Rey whispered, turning away from Finn. Rey chewed on her lower lip as she considered what Finn had said. Was there something  _ off _ about Ben? He was fairly standoffish with the rest of the group. He scowled at everyone and seemed to have a bit of a temper. Maybe there was something else that she was missing because she was attracted to him? No. Hux was the primary suspect and she wasn’t going to start suspecting her only ally. Ben was her ally, right? He couldn’t possibly want to hurt her after what they had done together, right? Rey exhaled in frustration, squeezing the four leaf clover in her fist. She looked up at the plane. 

Ben and Hux were in the cockpit tinkering with the radio, and based on the heated tones coming from above, they were not having much success.

Ben finally hopped down from the cockpit and strolled over to Rey. “The radio is shot. I’m guessing the rest of the electrical system is too. Even if I wanted to fly it, I couldn’t.”

Ben stormed away in frustration. Rose and Finn were searching nearby cabinets for anything useful. Rey noticed that Zorii was no longer with the others. She had wandered off and was admiring the fancy cars in the hangar.

“Sweet, is that an original Millennium Falcon YT-1300?” Zorii yelled, running over to a classic car parked in the middle of the hangar. It was a sleek white sports car with a black leather interior. Rey didn’t know anything about cars at all, having never owned one. She supposed it looked nice. Zorii opened the driver’s side door and climbed in.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea!” Rey yelled, running toward Zorii. “Remember the poem? The next person is supposed to die in a car crash.”

“Relax, Rey. I’m not going to drive it. I just never seen one up close before. These cars are legendary.” Zorii ran her hands over the leather steering wheel, caressing it gently as if it was the face of a lover. “Magnificent. It still smells new. I wonder what it’s like to drive?” 

“Those things are total garbage.” Ben muttered. “It would be more valuable as scrap metal.”

“Weren’t they super dangerous?” Finn asked.

“Yes. They actually went out of business after they were sued multiple times. People claimed the cars would accelerate on their own.” Ben supplied.

“I think she should get out of there. It’s dangerous. Remember the poem?” Rey whispered to Ben.

“I think she’ll be OK. There’s probably no fuel in the tank anyway. The car looks like it’s been sitting untouched for a while.”

“Why am I the only one worried about this?” Rey asked the group. Finn shrugged at her and Rose gave her a sympathetic smile. “Fine. I will drag her out of there myself.” Rey turned and took a step toward the Millennium Falcon. She halted in place when the sound of a car starting echoed in the hangar. The lights of the Millennium Falcon were also on.

“Zorii? Did you turn the car on?” Rey shouted. She could see that Zorii looked panicked.

“It’s not me! There’s no key in the ignition. Help me! The doors are locked and I can’t open them!”

“Oh my God!” Rey shrieked. She tried prying on the door handle but it wouldn’t open. 

Ben grabbed a wrench from a nearby tool bench and ran over to help. He pushed Rey back and took a swing at the window glass. It barely cracked. As he prepared to swing it again, the engine revved and then the Millennium Falcon jolted forward.

The Falcon accelerated at an alarming rate, straight toward the opposite wall of the hangar. The group watched in horror as the car crashed into the metal wall. The car was smashed into an accordion shape. Rey knew without having to be told that Zorii was dead. She had known this would happen and nobody would listen to her. She was sure if they went back to the entryway that yet another jedi figurine would be smashed.

She looked around for her prime suspect. 

Hux was casually leaning against one of the other sports cars with his arms crossed. He looked bored. 

_ Six wise Jedi going for a drive; _

_ One crashed his car and then there were five. _


	6. And then there were four

The car was so badly mangled that they were unable to extract Zorii’s body. Despite Rose’s tearful pleas that they couldn’t just leave her there, they had no other choice. They simply didn’t have the tools to get the car apart. Rey stared at a dark puddle forming under the car. Was it blood or oil from the engine? She felt bile rising in her throat. She swallowed down the vomit and turned toward the hangar’s exit. It didn’t really matter what it was. Zorii was dead and she hadn’t been able to stop it.

The group went back to the manor house in silence. Rey led the way, several paces ahead, too angry to talk to the others. She stormed into the house, ignoring the newly smashed jedi figurine on the entryway table and ran up to her bedroom. She slammed the door and dove onto the bed in anger. 

Nobody had listened to her and now another person was dead. She furiously wiped the tears off her cheeks. Despair washed over her. Half of the group was gone. She might be next. She was going to die alone here on this stupid island and she wouldn’t be able to stop it. She sobbed into her pillow. Maybe if she stayed here in the room with the door locked she would be OK. She was safe here. If nobody came in, then nobody could kill her.

A soft tap at the door caused her to look up. 

“Rey? It’s me. Please let me in.” Ben pleaded through the door. 

Maybe ... she didn’t have to be alone?

Rey hopped off the bed and flung open the door. She grabbed the lapels of Ben’s jacket and dragged him inside, slamming him up against the wall. His eyes were wide, a look of confusion on his face. She crushed her lips to his in a desperate kiss. He stood stunned for a few seconds before wrapping his arms around her and returning the kiss.

“We’re going to die on this island and I don’t want to die a virgin.” Rey said as she tugged at Ben’s jacket, discarding it on the floor. She was still crying. She felt like an unattractive, unsophisticated blubbering idiot. 

“You're a virgin? Oh. _ Oh _ .” Ben eased his grip on Rey and tried to take a step away from her. “I wouldn’t have done ...  _ that…. _ this morning if I had known. We should slow down.” He mumbled trying not to look at her as she peeled her sweater over her head and threw it on the floor.

“I don’t need you to be  _ gentle _ . I don’t want you to be my _ boyfriend _ .” Rey sobbed. “I just want you to fuck me? Ok? Just fuck me?” She was pawing furiously at the buttons on his shirt.

Ben gently grabbed her hands and held them tightly. “Shhh. Just slow down? Ok?”

“No. I don’t want to slow down. Just please, _ be with me _ .” Crocodile tears were running down her cheeks. Ben reached up and wiped them away. He leaned in and cupped her chin, tipping her face up and kissing her gently.

“Don’t you want me?” She whispered. 

“Of course I do.” The evidence of his desire was straining against the front of his pants. “I just - I’m not a nice person. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t hurt me. I trust you.” She stood up on her toes to pull him down into another kiss.

Once he sensed that Rey had calmed, he scooped her up and carried her over to the bed. He made quick work of discarding their clothing. He climbed on top of Rey, planting his arms on either side of her. “If you want me to stop, I will.”

“No, please don’t stop!” Rey wrapped her arms around Ben and arched her pelvis up. Rey was trembling gently, a combination of arousal and fear. Ben began a trail of open-mouthed kisses down her neck and collarbone. Rey squirmed underneath him in anticipation. She ran her fingertips lightly over his back, exploring the ridges of his muscles. He took a nipple into his mouth and gently nibbled. She moaned and again pushed her pelvis upward.

  
“Ben. Please.” She whined. The anticipation was killing her. She needed friction. She needed  _ more _ . She was tired of waiting. She needed to be filled.

Ben shifted upwards and felt her tense her body as he lined himself up with her entrance. “Relax.” He whispered into her hair before planting a kiss above her breasts. He slid through her silken folds and guided the tip into her entrance, groaning at the tightness.

She inhaled sharply as he slowly slid into her inch by glorious inch. She cried out his name as he buried himself to the hilt. His eyes searched her face for permission to continue. He held himself still, shaking with the effort, until she nodded.

“I’m Ok.” She whispered. “I need more.” It didn’t hurt as much as she had anticipated. She had never felt so full, so complete.

He pulled himself out then sheathed himself again to the hilt with a sharp thrust, causing Rey to cry out again. As he began to move his hips, he reached down to lightly thumb Rey’s clit. She felt something building inside her. As he increased the pace of his thrusts, Rey felt like she was at the edge of a cliff, ready to fall off.

“I’m going to come!” she cried out, digging her fingernails into his back.

“Come for me, Rey.” His thrusting became more erratic as she rode the wave of her orgasm. With a shudder and loud cry, Ben emptied inside of Rey and collapsed on top of her.

\---

“Solo.” He had rolled them so that he was on the bottom and Rey was draped across his chest.

“What?” Rey asked, picking her head up to look at his face.

“My last name is Solo.” He chuckled softly. “I figured you might want to know the last name of the person you just had sex with.”

“Oh. Mine is Kenobi.” She could have sworn a shadow crossed his eyes when she told him her name but he didn’t say anything. Maybe it was her imagination. Yes, it was probably her imagination.

Rey decided that now was probably a good time to come clean to Ben. They had, after all, just been intimate with each other. It seemed like they weren’t going to make it off this island alive anyway. What was the point in keeping her secret any longer?

“Do you -” she hesitated, then took a deep breath and started again. “Do you know the National Bank of Chandrila?” She was nervously tracing a finger over Ben’s chest. What was he going to think of her after this?

“Of course. Largest bank in the world.” Ben said.

“I robbed it.” Rey said flatly.

\---

**Two years ago**

“Hurry up, you little brat.” Unkar Plutt barked into the wireless earbud that Rey was wearing. She was standing on the busy street corner across from the National Bank of Chandrila. Plutt was in a van down the street, waiting to pick her up after the job. Rey nervously touched the earbud to make sure it was secure and hidden. She moved her hair to cover her ears.

  
“I’m going in now.” Rey whispered. She crossed the street with the crowd when the traffic signal changed. She squared her shoulders and walked up the marble stairs into the building.

The National Bank of Chandrila was a legendary marble building in the heart of Chandrila’s business district. The NBC, as it was known, was a popular bank among celebrities and the wealthy. They had a reputation for discretion and attracted a fair share of criminal clients as well. 

Rey’s job was simple. She was to go into the lobby and meet with a man named Lando who was to give her a key to a safety deposit box. She was then supposed to move into the vault, empty the contents of the box and bring it out to Unkar Plutt. No big deal. No big deal if you ignore the fact that the key was stolen and the box was supposed to contain a large quantity of diamonds. If Rey got caught she was going to prison for a very long time. 

Rey silently cursed her foster father, Unkar Plutt. She had helped him with one too many schemes over the years and somehow he always managed to come up with something more dangerous than the time before. Bank robbery and jewel thievery were a new one for Plutt. She wondered what exactly he was going to do with the diamonds anyway. How did one even sell stolen diamonds? Maybe he already had a buyer lined up? She didn’t really care. He promised her ten thousand dollars and her freedom after this was over. She wouldn’t ever have to work for him again.

As Rey wandered into the lobby, she looked around for Lando. Plutt’s description had been vague. He described Lando and “an old pirate.” She locked eyes with a man sitting in the waiting room. He was wearing a white pantsuit that looked like it had gone out of style several generations ago. There was a gold cape attached to the shoulders of his suit. A fucking  _ cape _ . This has to be the pirate. She went and sat next to the man in the waiting area, pretending to scroll on her phone.

“Box 501. Tell Plutt this is the last job.” Rey felt something being slid into her jacket pocket. She nodded and stood up, heading toward the back of the bank.

“Good afternoon. I’d like to access my box.” Rey said to the guard behind the counter. 

“Certainly, m’am. Do you have your key?” The guard gestured her to a locked security door. Rey walked forward and pulled out her key. They guard put his key in and indicated to Rey where to insert her key. When both keys were turned, the door unlocked. 

She followed the guard into the safety deposit box room. There was a small metal table in the center of the room. The guard turned to her, “Which box?” 

“501.” Rey said. 

The guard walked to box 501 and put his key in. Rey approached and put in her key, Once both keys were turned, the box slid out of the wall. The guard placed it on the table for Rey.

“When you are finished, just leave the box here and we will replace it. Take your time.” He left Rey alone with her nervous anxiety. She waited a full minute in silence before lifting the lid. She was greeted by the sight of a large velvet drawstring bag. She carefully undid the strings and looked inside. She gasped as the glitter of diamonds damn near blinded her. She tucked the bag of diamonds into her bra and closed the box. Her heart was racing. Just a few more minutes and she would be outside. She glanced up and noticed the security camera in the corner of the room. Had they just watched her stuff a bag of diamonds into her bra?

As she made her way back into the hallway, the bank alarm started blaring. Rey panicked and ran for the exit. The guards started screaming at her. One guard pulled his gun and yelled at her to stop. Lando jumped in front of her, with a gun pointed at the guards.

“Run, kid!” He shouted. Rey reached the exit and turned to look back at Lando. One of the guards opened fire, hitting him in the chest. She bolted out the door and ran down the street, not looking back. As she reached the intersection, Plutt’s van screeched to a stop in front of her and she jumped into the back. Plutt pulled away and blended into normal city traffic. He made several turns before pulling over under a deserted overpass.

Rey pulled the diamonds out of her bra and tossed them over to Plutt. “Lando is dead.”

“He knew the risk. Here ya go, kid.” Plutt handed her a wad of bills. She quickly counted it, her face falling.

“This is only $500. You promised me  _ ten thousand _ .” Rey said with a frustrated cry.

“Maybe next time.” Plutt growled.

“There isn’t supposed to be a next time, Plutt. This was the absolute last time. This is over.” 

Plutt pulled out a large knife and held it up to Rey’s cheek. “It’s over when  _ I _ say it’s over you little cunt. Do we have a problem?”

Rey felt rage boiling in her stomach. Her ears were ringing. Her vision was swimming. This was not happening. Today was the last day. She wasn’t going to be controlled by Unkar Plutt any longer. Rey felt like she had floated outside of her body. She watched herself grab the knife from Plutt and bury it in the side of his neck. She was quick, like the strike of a cobra. She stepped back and stared at her hands in shock. What had she just done?

Plutt gurgled, clawing at his neck as blood poured out of the knife wound. He lunged to grab at Rey before collapsing on the floor of the van.

“No Plutt, we don’t have a problem.” Rey whispered. She bent down and wiped her fingerprints off the knife handle. She tucked the bag of diamonds back into her bra, pocketed the cash and stepped out of Plutt’s van. She hurried down the street without looking back, increasing her pace when she heard police sirens in the distance. She made her way to the bus station and bought a ticket home to Jakku. That night, she packed up her things and spent the night in a motel. The next day she found a small apartment for rent. She buried Plutt’s memory deep within her. She vowed never to think of him again. If he ever popped into her head, she would begin her mantra.

_ I am not a killer. I am not. I am not. I am not. _

A lie told often enough can seem like the truth.

\---

Ben listened to Rey’s story without interrupting her. They were curled on her bed, her head resting on his chest. He was weaving his fingers soothingly through her hair.

“You had to do it.” Ben insisted. “You never would have been free. Plutt never would have let you go. There would have always been some other job he wanted you to do.” 

Rey nodded. “I know. _ I know _ . I - I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

Ben nodded, cradling her to his chest. 

\---

  
An hour or so later, Ben, Rey and Finn were sitting on the front porch having cocktails. Finn and Ben were discussing the likelihood of being able to fly the plane to the mainland. They had already discussed and rejected the possibility of building a raft to sail back to the mainland. Rey had been preoccupied for most of the afternoon. She hadn’t wondered where Hux and Rose were until she saw Hux coming down the path carrying Rose in his arms.

“Oh my God.” Rey breathed. “He killed her. He killed her!” Her voice became high pitched and hysterical.

Hux was walking across the lawn carrying Rose’s soaking wet body. Her arms hung limply and her hair was plastered across her face. Rey could tell that she was dead.

“What the fuck happened?” Finn screamed at Hux, grabbing Rose’s body from the man.

“We just went for a walk along the beach. A jellyfish stung her ankle. She started screaming and this huge wave crashed over us. She drowned.” Hux delivered his excuse in a monotone voice. He had a faraway look in his eyes. Rey did not believe a word he said.

_ Five wise Jedi playing at the shore; _

_ One was swept away and then there were four. _


	7. And then there were three

Chapter 7 “And then there were three.”

  
“You murderer!” Rey shrieked, pounding her fists on Hux’s chest. He made no effort to defend himself. “You fucking killed her, didn’t you?” When she tried to wrap her hands around Hux’s neck, she was pulled back by Ben.

“Let him go, sweetheart.” Rey started sobbing and turned into Ben’s arms. He was rubbing her back in a soothing manner. 

“He killed her! He killed her!” She wailed into Ben’s chest. 

“We are going to confine you to your room and you will be locked inside. You will not be allowed out unless we find a way off this island. If you try to escape, we will tie you up. Once we find a way off the island, you will be turned over to the police. Do you agree to these terms?” Ben’s face was set in a solid angry demeanor. Rey wondered if he was thinking about just killing Hux to rid them of the murderer. She certainly was.

Hux nodded mechanically. He still had a stunned look on his face. “I didn’t kill her. It wasn’t me.” He mumbled. 

“Nobody believes you!” Rey shrieked at Hux. Her fists were clenched so tightly that she wondered if her palms were bleeding from her fingernails. She couldn’t look at that monster anymore. She turned to Finn, who was holding Rose’s body tightly. Rey reached up and wiped the hair off of Rose’s face. “Let’s go put her with the others.” 

Rey and Finn walked into the kitchen with Rose’s body. Ben grabbed hold of Hux by both arms and steered him upstairs to his room. Ben came back down a few minutes later and met the pair in the kitchen. 

“I told him we would let him have dinner. And he requested some alcohol. I have the key to his room in my pocket.” Ben tapped the breast pocket of his suit jacket. “He says he will not try to escape, but let’s be vigilant.” 

“I think we should let him starve.” Rey spat out. “He is behind all this, I know he is.” 

Finn shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know if I agree with you, Rey.” 

“What? How could you disagree? Who else could have killed Rose?”

  
  
“It could have been an accident. If a jellyfish stung her and she was distracted, she could have easily drowned because of a rogue wave.” Finn shifted his gaze between Rey and Ben.

“Well that’s easily debunked. If she was stung by a jellyfish, there would be visible marks on her. Let’s examine her body.” Rey challenged. Both men shifted uncomfortably at the suggestion. “What the matter guys? We’ve seen plenty of corpses in the past 48 hours. I’m not trying to do a fucking autopsy, I just want to see if there is any truth to what he said.” Rey turned toward the walk-in refrigerator and opened the door. She stepped inside and lifted the sheet that had been wrapped around Rose. She looked at both ankles. She stood up and turned to the boys with a look of determination on her face. “There are no marks of any kind on her legs. Hux _ lied. _ ” 

Ben stepped into the refrigerator and Rey lifted the sheet again, pointing to Rose’s unblemished legs.

“He wasn’t wet.” Ben said quietly. “Just his arms and chest from carrying her. But the rest of him was dry. If it was a wave, why wasn’t he wet?”

“He probably just held her face under the water or something. There was no wave. There were no jellyfish.” Rey peeled back the top of the sheet to examine Rose’s face. “I can’t see any bruising or obvious wounds, but I  _ know _ it was him.”

“Even if Rose’s death was because of Hux, that doesn’t mean that the others were too. That’s reaching. Some of them seem like accidents. There’s no way he could have done it all by himself.” Finn challenged.

“Don’t gaslight me asshole. I’m not imagining murders.” Rey shot at Finn.

“I’m not saying you are imagining things. I’m just saying we are under a lot of stress and you might be seeing patterns where they don’t exist.” Finn said, holding up his hands in defense.

“Let’s talk it out.” Ben said. “Bazine was the first to die. Where was Hux standing when the bench fell over the cliff?” 

Rey bit her lower lip, trying to remember. “I don’t remember, but we were all within ten or twenty feet of her.”

  
“You were the one who helped her to the bench.” Finn accused, pointing his finger in Ben’s face.

“Now wait just a minute-” Ben growled. He pulled his arm back as if he might hit Finn. Rey reached up and touched his elbow.

“Boys! This isn’t helping. Hux is our guy, _ I know it _ . Before I suspected him, I was thinking about Artoo. Remember, the first figurine was already broken when we arrived. Someone who was already here - Artoo - would have had to have broken it. Hux couldn’t have done that. What if they were working together?”

“That still doesn’t explain Bazine’s death.” Finn mumbled.

“Ok, so I admit that I can’t explain that, but what about Poe? He saw someone outside. Maybe it was Artoo without his wig? Or Hux in a disguise? One of them lured Poe out there and the other one broke the figurine. And Amilyn was after that. Hux may have drugged her and staged it to look like she overdosed on pills. Artoo could have broken the figurine after we all went to bed. Chewie was after that. I can’t explain that. Artoo had already left the island at that point and Hux was with Rose. Zorii and the car were next. Hux was leaning against a car and didn’t help us at all. What if he had some kind of remote control that triggered the car to start? He just had this bored look on his face as she was dying. _ I know it was him _ . I don’t know how but I know it was him. And finally he killed Rose. I mean that one is obvious. Two people go off alone together and one dies. The other obviously did it.” 

“There are an awful lot of plot holes there.” Finn said giving Rey an admonishing look. “No jury would convict someone based on this crazy story. And there is no obvious motive. Hux doesn’t know any of us. None of us have ever met before. What reason would he have to kill us?”

“Since when does a homicidal maniac need a motive? Crazy people do crazy things all the time. Oh my god, what if Hux is our host? What if Hux is Snoke?” Rey's eyes had widened as if she had realized something important. 

“That’s really unlikely. I think Snoke is supposed to be an older gentleman. Hux is too young. But, what if Artoo never left the island? What if he’s still here helping Hux?” Ben asked. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Finn and Rey.

Rey sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers. “We can’t split up and search again. We need to stick together. Every time we split up something bad happens.”

“I agree.” Finn said. “Let's throw some dinner together. It’s going to get dark outside soon and if we are going to try and get off this damn island tomorrow then we will need to eat and we need some rest.”

Rey found a small beef roast in the walk in refrigerator and threw it in a pot with some vegetables to make a stew. The group stood around in the kitchen discussing their escape plans for the next day. For the better part of an hour they wavered between building some sort of raft, and cramming all four of them into the plane. 

“It’s really dangerous to overload a small plane like that. Assuming I could even get it off the ground, we would be in danger of running out of fuel or having trouble with the engines. Small planes like that are not built to hold more than two people.” Ben said.

“Well that takes us back to the original idea. Ben flies the plane alone to the mainland and returns with the police.” Rey looked at Finn to gauge his reaction.

“I guess we don’t have another choice. Although I am not thrilled -  _ at all _ \- to be left behind. What if the plane crashes somewhere in the ocean? We will have no way of knowing. Or what if he lands and never goes to the police and leaves us here to rot?”

“I need to think some more, maybe sleep on it. Let’s eat. The stew is ready. I’m not much of a cook.” Rey shrugged and began dishing it into bowls.

“I’m sure it’s delicious. I’ll take a tray up to Hux.” Ben grabbed a bottle of brandy from the liquor cabinet and put it on the tray with a glass and some silverware.

“I hope he chokes on it.” Rey muttered, handing Ben the bowl. Ben chuckled softly, placing the bowl on the tray.

Rey and Finn carried their bowls into the dining room.

Ben was left alone in the kitchen and nobody noticed when he dumped several pills into the brandy, shaking it slightly to dissolve them.

\---

As the sun began to set, high pitched wails came from Hux’s room. 

“Help me, please!” He cried banging on the door. “They are going to kill me. The ghosts! I see ghosts! No. No! Stay away from me! Help!” 

Rey, Ben and Finn sat downstairs in the dining room, nervously eating the stew that Rey had put together. 

“Should we check on him?” Finn asked.

“No.” Rey said. “He’s trying to get our attention so we will let him out. Let him rot in there.”

Ben sighed and shrugged at Finn. “He’s probably faking or he drank too much brandy. Obviously there are no ghosts in his room.”

Hux banged on his door and screamed well into the night. Occasionally he would stop banging and then laugh maniacally. When he resumed pounding at the door, it sounded like he was crashing his whole body into the door. Some time after midnight, after a particularly violent crash against the door, there was finally silence. Concerned about the silence, Finn asked Ben to use the key to open Hux’s door. The three of them went together to investigate. Hux was dead on the floor, a look of horror frozen on his face.

_ Four wise Jedi trying to flee; _

_ A ghost caught one and then there were three. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the few people commenting and everyone leaving kudos. I'm not sure why this story isn't more popular. Oh well, at least I'm having fun writing it. We are almost to the end! :)


	8. And then there were two

**Chapter 8 “And then there were two.”**

The trio of Finn, Rey and Ben stood around the corpse of Hux. Finn knelt down to examine the body while Ben quickly searched the room.

“The window is locked. Nobody is hiding under the bed or in the closet. The bathroom is empty.” Ben reported after his cursory exam of the room.

“He has foam coming out of his mouth and his eyes are really red. Could he have been drugged or poisoned?” Finn stood up and looked at Rey with a frown. He pointed an accusing finger at her. “Wait a minute. You made the stew. Did you poison it? Were we all poisoned? Are we all going to die now?” Finn had turned on Rey who had instinctively taken a step backward toward the door. She looked like a scared rabbit facing down a fox, frozen in terror and about to bolt. 

“I-I didn’t do anything! I hated him but I didn’t poison him. There was nothing wrong with the stew.” Rey was inching backward toward the door. She stopped when Finn whirled around and turned on Ben.

“Or what about you? You delivered the food to him. Did you poison it on the way up here?” Finn started to back himself into a corner, not wanting to be too close to either Rey or Ben. “How can I trust either of you? Maybe you are in on it together!”

“Well what about you?” Rey shot back. She had finally tapped into her courage. “You were in the military. Hux was in the military. How do we know that you two aren’t old friends? Maybe you were in on it with him and decided to eliminate him when his usefulness ran out? Didn’t you do that once before already? Kill a commanding officer?”

“She ordered us to fire on unarmed civilians! And don’t play all high and mighty with me. You told everyone you were innocent but I happen to know that you are a _ liar. _ ”

“I’m not a liar!” Rey felt her face redden. She had told Ben her secret. Had he told Finn? No. She didn’t think he would, but then again how much did she really know about Ben?

Ben raised both his hands in a calming gesture. “Hold on everybody. We can’t go turning on each other now. I think we need to assume that someone else is with us on this island, and that person, or persons, are the killers. The three of us need to stick together.”

“ _ Hell no _ . I am not sitting around all night waiting for one of you two to kill me.” Finn crossed his arms against his chest. “I’m tired. I’m going to my room and locking the door. If either of you try to get in, I will assume you are there to kill me and I  _ will _ kill you.”

“Finn, please.” Rey said imploringly, “We really need to stay together. If we are all in the same room and nobody leaves or comes in, then we should all be safe.”   
  


“Yes. Rey is right.” Ben said. “Why don’t we all go down to the library? There were several large couches down there that we can sleep on. We can take turns staying awake. One person awake keeping an eye out while the other two sleep?” Ben suggested.

Finn shrugged, and Rey took that as a good sign. She knew deep down that splitting up for the rest of the night would be a terrible idea. Staying together was the way forward.

“I think that is a good idea. I want to change out of these clothes first. Can we meet back here in ten minutes? We will all walk down together.” Rey desperately wanted to splash some cold water on her face and get changed out of the clothes she was wearing. This had been a very long day.

Ben nodded silently and stalked down the hall to his room, closing the door behind him. Finn walked next to Rey. When they reached their rooms, he turned to her.

“It’s him. Don’t trust him.” Finn didn’t bother to wait for Rey’s reply before entering his own room and closing the door. She heard the soft click of the lock.

She stepped into her own room and locked the door behind her. She quickly looked around. Her level of paranoia was steadily increasing. She quickly dove to the floor and peeked under her bed. She threw open the closet and looked inside. She peeked behind the curtains and in the shower. Nobody was in her room. She was safe. . . for the next few minutes anyway.

Rey stood in front of the bathroom mirror staring at her face. There were dark circles under her eyes and her cheeks were flushed pink. She looked terrible, haunted, guilty. _ I have done nothing wrong. The only thing I am guilty of is not being able to stop these murders from happening.  _ She turned on the faucet and leaned down, splashing cold water on her face. She reached for a towel and blotted her face dry. 

As she walked out of the bathroom, she noticed a small red envelope sitting on the dresser. Had that been there when she came in? She glanced around again. There was nobody in her room. She knew that. The door was locked now. Perhaps she had just missed it when she had been doing her search. She reached her hand out, hesitating before picking up the envelope and pulling out a cream colored card. In an elegant script, the card read: 

**_He will kill you before sunrise._ **

Rey read the card again and again and again. He will kill you before sunrise. He.  _ He _ . He? Finn or Ben? Or maybe a person unknown? He will kill you before sunrise.

Finn had told her not to trust Ben. She couldn’t believe that it could be Ben. She had not seen any malice hidden in his eyes. She felt like she could trust him. If he was the killer, then he was one hell of an actor. But Finn also seemed kind and trustworthy. Finn had already warned her about Ben twice. What was he seeing that she didn’t see? Was she blinded by her romantic feelings for Ben? She couldn’t deny that she wanted him. If they made it off this island, she wouldn’t mind seeing him again. Ugh, she was being ridiculous. If they made it off this island, Ben would probably never want to see her ever again. 

He will kill you before sunrise.

“Not if I kill him first.” Rey whispered. She grabbed the card and crumpled it in her fist. She glanced at the small clock on the dresser. Just after 1 o’clock in the morning. Sunrise was sometime around 7. In just six hours, either she would be dead or  _ he _ would. 

Rey spent so much time wondering who her would-be killer was that it did not occur to her to wonder who had left her the card.

\---

  
The group met in the hallway outside of their rooms a few minutes later. Rey had changed into a pair of black yoga pants and another soft sweater, this one a violet color. She felt much better after having brushed her teeth and hair. Ben was wearing the same suit as before but he had ditched the tie and jacket. Finn had not changed his clothing. Rey had been the last to step into the hallway. The two men had been engaged in a tense silent standoff. If looks could kill . . . 

“Shall we?” Rey asked, gesturing down the hallway.

Ben led the way, with Rey and Finn following close behind. As they made their way down the main staircase and into the library, Rey forgot to look at the table on the entryway. If she had looked, she would have noticed that another Jedi figurine had been smashed. Only two remained.

They stepped inside the library and Ben locked the door behind them.

“I volunteer for the first watch. We can do two hour shifts until morning, then we get off this island.” Ben said, crossing the room and heading toward the bookcases. “Why don’t you two try and get some sleep?” Ben began skimming the shelves, looking for something interesting to read to help keep him awake.

“I don’t think any of us is going to be doing much sleeping.” Rey said. She sat down on one of the leather couches and drew her legs up to her chest, hugging them tightly. The couch seemed soft enough, but she worried that Ben and Finn would get into a potentially deadly altercation if she fell asleep. Best to stay awake and keep an eye on both of them, she decided.

“Want a book to read?” Ben asked, turning to look at Rey. She shook her head and yawned, rubbing her legs to warm them up. Ben turned back to his perusal of the bookcase. “There are a lot of weird books here.” He pulled a volume off the shelf and started flipping through it.

“It’s freezing in here. I’ll get the fire going.” Finn walked over to the fireplace, tripping on the dead animal rug on his way. “This room is so fucking creepy.” He bent down and began arranging logs in the fireplace. 

Rey watched in silence as Finn got the fire going. Within a matter of just a few minutes, he had a large fire going and had his hands out, warming them up. Must be that military efficiency to have a roaring fire in under five minutes, she thought. She stood up, intending to join him in standing in front of the warmth of the fireplace. As she stepped forward, her eyes drifted up to the lion mounted on the wall. The lion. A shiver ran down her spine. She halted in place, afraid to get any closer.  _ He will kill you before sunrise. _

“Finn, I don’t think you should stand there. The next verse of the rhyme is about a lion. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Rey pointed up to the giant lion head mounted above the fireplace.

“Huh?” Finn looked up at the lion and then back at Rey. “Pfft. Seriously Rey?”

“Finn, please. Come over here.” Rey waved her arms wildly at Finn. She felt like a mother trying to coax a naughty toddler to come to her.

Ben had turned his attention from the bookcase. He was now looking at the lion with a frown.

“Oh no! Please, Mr. Scary Lion, don’t eat me!” Finn was holding his hands up in mock horror. “Come on Rey. Unless Mr. Snoke has a private petting zoo of exotic animals here, I think I’m safe.”

Ben snorted and crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the bookcase. He turned his attention back to the book he had been flipping through.

A creaking sound caused Finn to look up at the lion, his brow wrinkled in confusion. The massive lion head fell off the wall and landed on top of Finn with a sickening thud. A puddle of blood began oozing out from under the lion head. Rey screamed in horror and fainted on the floor.

_ Three wise Jedi trying to make it through; _

_ A lion ate one and then there were two. _


	9. And then there was one

Chapter 9 - And then there was one

**_2 years ago_ **

Kylo Ren, Master of the Knights of Ren and killer for hire, casually strolled down the white marble adorned hallway of the Supremacy Building in Coruscant, heading for the elevator. Snoke, the famed billionaire inventor and secret leader of a squad of assassins, owned the building and lived in the penthouse on the 101st floor. Kylo nodded to the red-uniformed guards in the lobby and stepped into the elevator. He peeled off his leather glove and placed his hand over the scanner pad, watching as a blue beam of light scanned the details of his hand. 

“Good evening Mr. Ren. Please state your destination.” A robotic voice greeted him through the elevator’s speaker.

“Penthouse.” Kylo immediately put his glove back on. He hated touching things with his bare hands, especially people. As the elevator began to ascend, Kylo wondered why he had been summoned in the middle of the night. He ran through his recent transgressions in his head. Nothing that should have Snoke seriously put out. Murder for hire was a messy business. Sometimes things didn’t go according to plan. If this was about that incident with the Hutts . . . well how was he to be blamed if the target had been so fucking fat that the poison hadn’t worked? He had solved the problem with a bullet between the eyes. He had a 100% success rate. Nobody had gotten away yet and he’d never been caught. Snoke didn’t really have anything to complain about. Dead was dead.

“We have arrived at the Penthouse. Have a pleasant evening, Mr. Ren.” The robotic voice announced, as the doors parted. Kylo adjusted the collar of his black trench coat and tapped the pocket to make sure his gun was still there. He wasn’t anticipating the need for his gun, which he had lovingly named  _ Silencer _ , but you could never be too careful. He stepped out of the elevator and tried to prevent his disgust from showing on his face. Snoke’s Penthouse was gaudy and ostentatious. Red velvet couches and heavy dark red curtains in every room. Gold accents everywhere. Giant pieces of abstract art that cost way more than they were worth. Ren hated coming here. If this was his, he would rip it all down. Something bright, simple, clean, white. The value of the Penthouse was the view of the city. He would rip down all those hideous curtains and let the city skyline be his artwork.

Snoke always wandered around in his gold dressing gown and slippers in the middle of the day, like some kind of Hugh Heffner wannabe. Now that it was the middle of the night, he expected that Snoke would be wearing his usual gown. And...he was correct. He walked into a room at the end of the hall that the Knights referred to as “The Throne Room.” It had a large window overlooking the south side of the city. In front of it, and the only piece of furniture in the entire room, was Snokes large red velvet chair. At the moment, the chair was turned so that Snoke was looking out over Coruscant.

“Good evening Master.” Kylo went down on one knee and lowered his head, waiting for Snoke to address him.

“Ahh, my dear apprentice. How kind of you to join me.” Snoke swiveled around in his chair. 

Kylo remained on his knee, but raised his eyes to meet Snokes. Snoke stared at Kylo for several minutes without speaking. His eyes bored into Kylo’s, as if looking deep inside to the secrets written on his soul. Kylo forced himself to maintain eye contact. This was surely a test. Everything with Snoke was a test. 

Snoke was a recluse who hardly ever made public appearances. After the disaster at one of his space colonies, the media kept a “Snoke Watch.” He hadn’t been seen outside in more than five years. Kylo kept eye contact with his Master, trying not to stare at the deep scar bisecting the top of his head. He had heard several rumors from his Knights about the origins of the scar. A machete to the skull, an assassination attempt by a former spurned lover, an accidental explosion in the laboratory. He wasn’t sure if any of them were true. Snoke never spoke of it. He never asked.

“Do you remember when we first met, Kylo Ren?” Snoke asked, looking down into his lap. 

“Of course master.” Kylo felt as if an icy hand had reached out and grabbed his heart.  _ Why was Snoke bringing this up? _

“You were so lost and so broken after that messy business with your uncle. I took you in and taught you everything I know and you have yet to fail me. Your raw, untamed power excited me then. But now. . . now you are getting sloppy now because you are bored and your skills are going to waste. That business with the Hutts was . . . unfortunate. You could be doing  _ so much more _ . I’m putting you in charge of a special project.”

Kylo forced his face to stay emotionless. Somehow he knew whatever reaction he gave to Snoke, it would be the wrong one.

“The Knights of Ren have too many contracts coming in. More than we could ever handle. It never surprises me, the amount of people out there that are willing to pay to have someone killed. I am upping the price of our contracts. We now charge ten million dollars per target. If you don’t disappoint me, I will give you half.”

Kylo raised his eyebrows. Before, the Knights would accept whatever payment was offered to them. Sometimes clients were only able to pay in favors. Kylo had always been compensated generously by his Master but he would not consider himself wealthy by Coruscant’s standards. 

“Here are the targets.” Snoke said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a thumb drive. He tossed it to Kylo Ren. “There are nine of them. I need you to learn everything you can. Study these people as if your life depends on it. Next weekend we are flying out to my estate at the island of Ahch-To. I want you to survey the island and begin planning for our little party.”

“Party?” Kylo asked, confusion written across his brow.

“Yes, my young apprentice, we are going to throw a little party and you are going to pretend to be one of the guests.” 

\---

Rey opened her eyes and for a moment thought she was back in Jakku. When she remembered what had happened to Finn, she sat up and looked around. She was laying in the middle of Ben’s bed and she was alone. She could see out the window that it was still night. How long had she been passed out? Where was Ben? And more importantly, why hadn’t he killed her yet? Maybe he wanted her to be awake, to see it coming.

No, no. It can’t be Ben. It can’t be him. She was desperately trying to cling to the notion that Ben was innocent. She needed him to be innocent. 

She slowly scooted to the edge of the bed. Her eye caught sight of his luggage sitting on the dresser. She glanced hesitantly to the door. She couldn’t hear anything. He could be anywhere. She lifted the lid to his suitcase. Sitting on top of neatly folded clothes was a large silver handgun. She didn’t know anything about guns. She had never seen a real one up close before. Rey gingerly picked it up. It was heavier than she expected. She had no idea how to tell if it was loaded. She flipped it over and noticed a word etched into the barrel of the gun, “Silencer.” 

She thought about putting it back but a piece of paper that had been tucked under the gun caught her eye. She pulled it out. It was a list of the group with little personal notes about them. Rey frowned and looked at the notes next to her name.  _ Rey - Naive. Convince her you are innocent and she could be a useful ally and alibi.  _ Her blood ran cold in her veins. The sense of betrayal made her want to vomit. She had trusted him. She had sex with him. Her eyes filled with angry tears, waiting to be shed. 

Rey whipped around at the sound of the door opening. Ben was standing there, dressed all in black. She wondered when he had changed his clothing. Dressed like a killer, she thought. 

“What is this?” She asked, throwing the scrap off paper at him. The gun was still in her left hand.  __

“Rey, please let me explain.” His voice was eerily calm. She saw him eye the gun that she was holding by her side. 

“I know everything I need to know about you!” She shouted, raising the gun to his chest level. 

“You do?” He asked, lowering his chin so that his eyes bored into hers. “Aaah, you do.” One corner of his mouth slid up into a half smile.

“You are a  _ monster _ .” Her grip on the gun was so tight that her hands were shaking. She had never fired a gun before. Could she do it now?

“Yes I am.” He said plainly. There was no pretense anymore. She knew deep in her soul that he had killed the others without remorse. If she did not shoot him now, she would die before sunrise. She had placed her trust in the wrong person. She had given her heart to the wrong person. He was right, she was naive. 

He took a step toward her and she took a step back. He had her cornered. There was nowhere for her to go, unless she jumped on the bed and tried to make it to the door before he grabbed her.

“Stay where you are. Don’t make me do this. Don’t go this way, Ben.” Tears were streaming down her cheeks and her hands were shaking so badly that she was worried she might accidentally fire the gun.

Ben stopped moving and held his hand out to her. “Rey, give me the gun. I promise I won’t hurt you. I was  _ never _ going to hurt you. Give me the gun and I will explain everything. Please.” 

She lowered the gun as she stared at the leather-clad palm of his extended hand. She briefly considered taking it. Could she convince him to let her live? Would they fly away together on the plane as if this weekend never happened? Did he want to be with her? Keep seeing her? Or did he want to wrap those leather gloves around her neck and squeeze the life out of her? 

Leather gloves. Why was he wearing leather gloves? Rey visibly shivered. He really did want to kill her. He had a gun named  _ Silencer _ , for fuck’s sake. She never should have trusted him. 

_ He will kill you before sunrise.  _

He must have sensed her hesitation or seen some warning in her eyes. He put down his hand and took another step toward her. Rey raised the gun again and Ben dove toward her, trying to grab the gun. Rey closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. In the small space of the bedroom, the sound of the shot was deafening. Rey screamed and dropped the gun at her feet.

Ben collapsed in a heap on the floor.

_ Two wise Jedi reaching for a gun; _

_ One was faster and then there was one. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost to the end! Thank you for the comments and kudos.


	10. And then there were none

Chapter 10 - “And then there were none.”

Panic.

Rey stood over Ben’s body staring down in horror. She looked at her hands and flashed back to that day two years ago when she had driven the knife into Plutt’s neck. 

Desperation.

_ I am not a killer. I am not. I am not. I am not. _

Terror.

_ What now? How do I get off this island? _

Rey scrambled over the bed and ran towards the door, careful to avoid looking at Ben’s body. She ran across the hall into her room. She began gathering all her personal belongings and cramming them into her overnight bag, dropping things on the floor in her hurried panic. She took a towel and began furiously wiping her fingerprints off everything she had touched.  _ Oh my God. The gun. My fingerprints are all over the gun! I have to go back in there and wipe it off. Or maybe I should throw it in the ocean? Or keep it? No. Too hard to explain how I ended up with it. I should throw it in the ocean. _ When she finished in her room, Rey grabbed her overnight bag and set it down in the hallway outside of Ben’s room.

She stood at the door frame, hesitating. She would be quick. In and out. Don’t look at the body. Just get in there and get the gun and get the hell out. She took a deep breath and walked into Ben’s room.

She circled the bed and looked down . . . at nothing. No Ben. No blood. No gun.

She was paralyzed with fear. “Oh fuck. No no nononono. Fuck.” She started slowly backing up. If he wasn’t dead, then where the fuck was he? She quickly turned and ran out of his room, grabbing her overnight bag on the way. She sprinted for the main staircase. When she got to the top of the stairs she tripped, almost going headfirst down the entire flight. Her overnight bag bounced down the stairs and landed at the bottom with a loud thump. So much for trying to quietly escape. She had no doubt that Ben had heard the noise and was now coming to kill her. Rey grabbed the railing to pull herself to standing. Her eye caught sight of the table in the entryway below.

All of the Jedi statues were destroyed. All ten. 

“No!” She whispered in desperation. She just needed to get out of this house. She ran down the stairs and reached to pick up her overnight bag.

“You’re not going to be needing that any longer.”

Rey screamed, startled by the unfamiliar voice and stood up, turning to the figure at the end of the hallway.

“Artoo?” Rey started at him, her eyes drifting to the deep scar running across his skull. He was no longer wearing his wig. She felt her cheeks flush red. This man was obviously Ben’s accomplice and not a butler. Ben himself had even suggested at one point that perhaps Artoo had never left. She tried to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach that accompanied the realization that Ben had been toying with them all along.

The man smiled at her and took a few steps forward. Rey instinctively backed up toward the front door. 

“Oh you won’t be leaving this island alive, so you can abandon any hope you had of escaping.” As soon as the man finished speaking, several figures emerged from nearby rooms to circle around Rey. She recognized them as the cook, the maid and the boat captain. 

“These are my Knights of Ren and I am your host, Snoke. You’ve already met the Master of the Knights, my right hand man, Kylo Ren.”

_ Kylo Ren? _ Rey noticed a figure enter the lobby behind Snoke. Ben. His face was an impassive mask. He looked only at his master and not at her. Her eyes drifted to his chest. No bullet wound. She was sure that she had hit him when the gun fired. Was it a fake gun? Blanks? Or was she just that terrible of a shot? 

“And now my dear, it’s time for us to finish this. Your contract will have to be fulfilled. I don’t want to have to return ten million dollars.” Snoke said. His eyes were shining with glee. The sick bastard was  _ enjoying _ this. 

“Someone paid ten million dollars to have me killed?” Rey asked quietly. She was still trying to get Ben to meet her eyes, but he was looking away.

“Yes.” Snoke said.

“Liar. I don’t have any friends that even _ have _ ten million dollars.” Rey said.

“No you don’t. You have an enemy that would, and did, pay ten million dollars to have you killed.” Snoke said sarcastically.

“Who?”   
  
“Does it matter?”

“Who?” She asked again, with a firmer edge to her voice. If she was going to die, then what use was there in being polite? 

Snoke sighed dramatically, as if casual conversation was beneath him. “The man whose diamonds you stole. And by the way, he would like his diamonds back. If you would be so kind as to tell me where they are, we can arrange a quick death for you.”

Rey did not bother to answer. She still had the diamonds hidden, of course. They had been impossible to sell after the robbery. Nobody wanted to touch them, not even back alley pawn shops (and she had tried many, many times). 

“Very well. Kylo Ren, if you would be so kind as to terminate this contract.” Snoke gestured to Rey with a dismissive wave of his arm. 

Ben’s head snapped up to look at his master. His face was still the mask but his eyes . . . maybe she still had a chance.

“Ben.” She whispered.  _ Please look at me _ . “Ben, you don’t have to do this.” He turned his head to look at her. A shadow flickered across his eyes. At that moment she had no idea if he was with her or against her. 

Snoke’s sharp laughter filled the entryway. “Oh, you silly girl. Do you think because you spread your legs for him that he will somehow spare your life? This is the fifth time we have had one of these little parties on the island and there’s always someone in the group that falls for  _ Ben Solo _ ’s _ pretty eyes _ .” Snoke smirked and looked to his other three Knights, who all chuckled. Kylo . . . Ben remained solid. Snoke continued, “Kylo Ren has never failed to fulfill a contract. Kylo Ren has no heart. Kylo Ren has no soul. Kylo Ren is a killer who obeys  _ MY _ commands. Now, Kylo Ren,  _ KILL THIS GIRL _ !”

Rey suppressed a sob, her eyes flooded with tears. She looked Ben in the eyes, unable to read the emotion there. She slowly shook her head. She was done pleading. It was all over now. She was just a contract to him.

Ben raised  _ Silencer _ and pointed it at Rey’s chest. “I know what I have to do.” He said quietly. Silent tears streaked down Rey’s cheeks. Ben turned his arm suddenly to the left and shot Snoke three times in the chest. 

Snoke looked down at his chest in confusion before stumbling and falling to the floor, face first.

The room stood still for a brief moment, as if frozen in time. Rey looked at Ben in both confusion and relief. For a moment Ben Solo looked like a lost child, shocked by his own actions. The three Knights of Ren stared at their dead master. The frozen time lasted merely a second before the room sprang into action. Two of the knights moved to take out Kylo Ren. Rey was left alone by the front door to face off against the Knight who had pretended to be the maid. 

The maid looked like a Barbie doll but fought like a hellion. She dove at Rey, trying to claw at her face. She grabbed a clump of Rey’s hair and tried to pull her down to the ground. Rey had grown up around Unkar Plutt and some very sketchy individuals, so she had learned basic self defense at a very early age. She twisted the maid’s arm and swept her leg out from under her. The maid pulled Rey down on top of her and the pair rolled around on the ground, a tangle of arms and legs. 

The Knight that Rey knew as the boat captain sprang up on Ben from behind, forcing his arms down to his sides. Ben dropped  _ Silencer _ which was kicked across the floor towards Rey and the maid.

Rey and the maid spied the gun at the same time. The both scrambled for it. Rey was closer but as she reached for it, the maid circled her arm around Rey’s throat, trapping her in a headlock. Rey gasped and clawed at the woman behind her. Spots dotted her vision and she knew she would soon lose consciousness if she couldn’t get out of the hold.

The maid tightened her grip as she pressed her face to Rey’s ear and hissed, “What’s so special about you that he would kill our master to save you?” Rey took advantage of the closeness and bashed her head into the maid’s face. The maid cried out and fell back, clutching her bleeding nose. Rey scrambled forward to the gun and almost cried out in relief as her hand wrapped around the cold handle.

Ben had somehow disentangled himself from the grasp of the boat captain who was laying on the ground now, grabbing at his leg. Ben’s lip was bloody and he had a streak of blood across his forehead. He was busy dodging the cook, who had picked up one of the iron fireplace tools and was swinging it at Ben’s head. Ben’s eyes met Rey’s. She held up the gun and he nodded, almost imperceptibly, at her. Ben dodged another swing from the Cook and grabbed her arm, prying the tool out of it and pushing the woman back. He turned to Rey and held out his hand, nodding again.

Rey threw  _ Silencer  _ to Ben and dropped down to the floor, covering her head. The gun made a perfect arc through the air, straight into Ben’s hands. Without hesitation, he rapidly fired three shots. The three Knights of Ren were dead.

Rey sat up and looked around at the bodies of Snoke and the Knights of Ren. Ben tucked  _ Silencer _ into the waistband of his pants and walked over to her. Her eyes caught sight of a small bullet hole in his shirt. So, she had shot him after all. She stood up and lifted his shirt to examine the wound, he made no move to stop her. She sighed in relief to see the bullet proof vest underneath his shirt. She took a step back and looked up at him. What now? What now. He held out his hand to her. There were no words spoken between them but she could see the pleading look as his eyes met hers.

This time when he offered his hand, she took it.

\--

“Our top story tonight involves a grisly murder and the details may be disturbing for some viewers. According to the Chandrila Police Department, Armand Greedo, owner of the famous Greedo’s Jewelers chain, was found dead in his home early Friday morning. Autopsy results indicate that he had been bound to a chair and forced to ingest an undetermined quantity of diamonds before being shot in the head. Police have no suspects at this time. If you have any information -”

Rey grabbed the remote control and turned off the TV. She picked up her empty wine glass and stood up from the couch, walking into the kitchen.

“Mmmm, smells good in here.” She said, setting her glass on the counter. She walked up behind Ben, who was standing in front of the stove, and wrapped her arms around his waist. She buried her face into his back. “I didn’t know you could cook.”

“It’s within my skill set.” He said. Rey laughed. He continued, “What’s on tonight’s agenda?”

“Nothing for tonight. Tomorrow the decorator is coming to get rid of all this hideous red velvet.” Rey had already ripped down all of Snoke’s curtains when she and Ben had occupied the Penthouse. She refilled her wine glass and took a sip before asking Ben, “How many new Knights are you thinking about hiring?” 

Ben turned off the stove and scooped the stir fry into two waiting bowls of rice. “Well that depends on you. If I can convince you to join me, then I would only need two more.”

“I’m not sure I’m really cut out for your line of work.” Rey said. She shoved a fork full of stir fry in her mouth and then moaned. “This is  _ amazing _ .” 

“I think you would be a valuable asset to my team. You handled Greedo just fine.” Ben watched Rey quietly as she quickly emptied her bowl. “Join me, Rey. You never have to be alone again.”

“I can’t just kill people without emotion. I can’t spend my life living in darkness.” Rey said, setting her bowl on the table. “Greedo was easy because he paid to have me killed. That’s different than murdering strangers.”

Ben leaned forward across the table and grabbed her hands in his. “What if we only accept contracts for bad people, people who deserve to die. It wouldn’t be ‘dark’ per se, it would be more of a . . . grey area?”

Rey laughed. “There’s nothing grey about you Ben.”

“I can be very persuasive.” He whispered, his fingers were lightly tracing the backs of her hands.

She raised an eyebrow to challenge him, “Oh really?”

He raised a hand to her temple and looked her directly in the eyes, “You will join me and you will serve your Master faithfully.” 

Rey stared into Ben’s eyes blankly for several seconds before responding. “Yes, Master.” She whispered mockingly before planting a kiss on his cheek. They both burst out laughing. “So mind control is NOT within your skill set, but I can think of other ways that I can be persuaded.” Rey stood up from the table and sauntered toward the bedroom, swaying her hips more than was necessary.

Ben Solo was quick to follow.

_ One wise Jedi left all alone; _

_ He became a Sith and then there were none. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all! This has been a fun story to write. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm currently working on my own version of episode 9 and I hope to have a few chapters ready soon!


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